Meaning of French XIXe siècle in English

XIXe siècle

19th century

Paris a beaucoup changé au XIXe siècle. Paris changed a lot in the 19th century.
Le XIXe siècle a vu de grandes inventions. The 19th century saw great inventions.
Les trains se développent au XIXe siècle. Trains developed in the 19th century.
Les peintres du XIXe siècle étaient audacieux. 19th-century painters were bold.
Le romantisme domine le XIXe siècle. Romanticism dominated the 19th century.

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More about XIXe siècle

XIXe siècle is the French term for the 19th century, with XIXe representing the Roman numeral for 19 and siècle meaning century. The phrase appears frequently in history books, literature, and discussions about art, politics, and societal changes of that era.

Just like in English, XIXe siècle is used to describe anything related to that time period, from historical events to artistic movements. For example, La Révolution industrielle du XIXe siècle a transformé l’Europe translates as “The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century transformed Europe.” Similarly, when referring to writers or artists from that time, one might say, Victor Hugo est un écrivain du XIXe siècle — “Victor Hugo is a 19th-century writer.”

One interesting detail is the formatting: French uses a superscript “e” after Roman numerals to indicate ordinal numbers, just as “th” is used in English (e.g., 19th century). You’ll also notice that in French, century numbers are usually written with Roman numerals, whereas English often prefers Arabic numerals.