à l'envi de

English translation: literary examples

07:57 Dec 2, 2004

French to English translations [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

French term or phrase: à l'envi de

My project is to make sample sentences from a list of French words- examples in both French and English. There's no context, I'm afraid!

I just have the word "envi" and need to use it in a sentence.

My Cassell's and my Larousse say that this expression means "in emulation of."

I tried to find some good examples on google, but was unable to. Any sample sentences (on any topic, in any register) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Tegan Raleigh
United States

English translation:literary examples

Explanation:
A couple of literary examples from the Robert dictionary:
"Les femmes imitant toutes, à l'envi, l'impératrice Eugénie" (Anatole France)- the women are all trying to outdo each other imitating the Empress Eugenie
"le gouvernement, les magistrats, les auteurs, s'y sont à l'envi déchaînés contre moi" (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)- the government, magistrates, writers are all vying with each other to persecute me.

Selected response from:

Nicky Over
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:18

Grading comment

very helpful, thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +1

want, like, wish

Shaila Kamath

Two examples from Collins

IanW (X)

some ideas - the notion is "vying"

CMJ_Trans (X)

literary examples

Nicky Over

Answers

4 mins confidence:

à l'envi de Two examples from Collins

Explanation:
ils dénoncent ces abus à l'envi = they ceaselessly condemn these abuses

je pourrais multiplier les exemples à l'envi = I could reel off a whole string of examples

Hope this helps

IanW (X)
Local time: 07:18
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English

6 mins confidence:

some ideas - the notion is "vying"

Explanation:
the word "envi" seems to have the same root as the English word "to vie" (as in "they were vying for her affections"). I have found a number of expressions e.g. imiter quelqu'un à l'envi = to vie with each other in their imitations OR plats appétisants à l'envi = dishes each more mouth-watering that the other

HTH

CMJ_Trans (X)
Local time: 07:18
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 231

1 hr confidence:

à l'envi de

literary examples

Nicky Over
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:18
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

very helpful, thank you!

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

à l'envi de want, like, wish

Explanation:
Tu as envie de faire partie de notre groupe? equivalent to : Would you like to be part of our group?

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Note added at 4 hrs 24 mins (2004-12-02 12:21:58 GMT)
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sorry, I goofed up. I have explained avoir envie de instead of envi de.

Shaila Kamath
India
Local time: 10:48
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

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English translation: literary examples

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