What does en deçà in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word en deçà in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use en deçà in French.

The word en deçà in French means below, on this side of, well short of, short of the reality, less than the reality, a far cry from the truth, a far cry from reality. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word en deçà

below

locution adverbiale (sous, en dessous de)

(preposition: Relates noun or pronoun to another element of sentence--for example, "a picture of John," "She walked from my house to yours.")
En deçà de 100mmHg, un adulte est en hypotension artérielle.
If an adult's blood pressure falls short of 100mmHg, he/she is hypotensive.

on this side of

locution adverbiale (de ce côté-ci)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Les chiens restent en deçà de la maison.

well short of

locution adverbiale (très inférieur à)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Ce que nous savons de la situation de ce pays en guerre est bien en deçà de la vérité.

short of the reality, less than the reality

locution adverbiale (sous-estimé, moins bien)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Les chiffres du chômage annoncés sont bien en deçà de la réalité.
These figures are certainly an underestimation.

a far cry from the truth, a far cry from reality

locution adverbiale (péjoratif (trop optimiste)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Vos craintes sont en deçà de la vérité, la situation est pire.

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French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.