Cordon sanitaire


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French Expression

Meaning	quarantine line
Literally	sanitary cordon
Register	normal
Pronunciation		[kuhr do(n) sah nee tehr]
IPA		[kɔʁ dɔ̃ sa ni tɛʁ]

Usage notes: Un cordon sanitaire refers to the line around a quarantine zone that prevents people from entering or leaving the area. It may be a literal barrier (fence, soldiers) or figurative (travel restrictions).

Par exemple…

On vient d’y établir un cordon sanitaire.		They’ve just established a quarantine line there.
Pensez-vous que le cordon sanitaire suffise ?		Do you think the quarantine line will suffice?

Related expressions

imposer la / une quarantaine – to create a quarantine zone
mettre en quarantaine – to quarantine
placer en quarantaine – to quarantine
lever la quarantaine – to lift the quarantine

By extension, cordon sanitaire has two additional meanings:

1. An alliance of countries created to form a buffer to prevent an unwanted ideology (e.g., communism) from spreading to other countries. The first and most famous use of this meaning was in 1919.

2. The exclusion of a political party from a coalition government in a parliamentary country. The term was first used this way in Belgium in the late 1980s.

Source: For more in-depth analysis and instances of the different types of cordons sanitaires throughout history, see Wikipedia: Cordon sanitaire.

En anglais

All three meanings of cordon sanitaire are used in English as well.