Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
maison mere
English translation:
parent company
Added to glossary by
Neil Crockford
Mar 3, 2007 13:28
17 yrs ago
5 viewers *
French term
France
The Human Translator
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, Russian to English, Spanish to English, and 2 more.
maison mere
Non-PRO
French to English
Bus/Financial
Finance (general)
Quelques mots sur notre maison mere
A Swiss subsidiary of a French bank refers to the latter. Not holding company please !
A Swiss subsidiary of a French bank refers to the latter. Not holding company please !
Proposed translations
(English)
| 5 +7 | parent company |
Neil Crockford
|
| 3 +1 | headquarters |
Alain Pommet
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| 4 | parent company |
Tony M
|
Change log
Mar 3, 2007 14:16: writeaway changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Proposed translations
+7
3 mins
Neil Crockford
Native in English
Specializes in field
40 years' industry experience
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, Portuguese to English, Spanish to English, and 7 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Selected
parent company
Standard usage
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Of course! Had a temporary brain blockage there ... Many thanks"
+1
5 mins
headquarters
Maison mère: établissement principal d'une firme où sont situés, le plus souvent, les services généraux et la direction.
Sounds like headquarters to me.
Sounds like headquarters to me.
Note from asker:
| Je pense que headquarters se traduit par siege principal. |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Richard Benham
: It is, but your definition doesn't apply here; it's got to be "parent company". Even "mother house" is better than HQ.//Very funny. @Tony "mother house" is often used by e.g. champagne makers and other companies for whom being French is an asset.
4 mins
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|
Are you sure?!! http://www.motherhouse.net/
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| neutral |
Tony M
: Like RB, I don't feel that fits here. HQ suggest much more the actual premises, back-translating to 'siège social', NOT 'maison mère' // 'mother house' is indeed used, but mainly for things like the 'head office' of convents etc.
12 mins
|
| agree |
momo savino
: Oxford Dictionary calls the maison mère "headquarters" or "head office"
1 hr
|
4 mins
parent company
Would be the normal translation, unless you feel there is some special reason to depart from that here?
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Note added at 22 mins (2007-03-03 13:51:20 GMT) Post-grading
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If this is a subsidiary = filiale, then the equivalent 'maison mère' of a 'filiale' would surely be parent company.
And no, Alain, I don't think there IS any difference between "maison" and "company" here; in my experience, FR is more punctilious about avoiding the use of the word "company" (= société) unless it literally refers to a business in that specific form. Otherwise FR often uses 'entreprise', 'maison', etc.
EN uses 'company' much more loosely to describe almost any kind of firm, and only relatively rarely keeps the idea of 'house', usually restricted to a few proper names like "House of Fraser"
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Note added at 22 mins (2007-03-03 13:51:20 GMT) Post-grading
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If this is a subsidiary = filiale, then the equivalent 'maison mère' of a 'filiale' would surely be parent company.
And no, Alain, I don't think there IS any difference between "maison" and "company" here; in my experience, FR is more punctilious about avoiding the use of the word "company" (= société) unless it literally refers to a business in that specific form. Otherwise FR often uses 'entreprise', 'maison', etc.
EN uses 'company' much more loosely to describe almost any kind of firm, and only relatively rarely keeps the idea of 'house', usually restricted to a few proper names like "House of Fraser"
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