invitées

invitées is the French feminine plural form of the noun invité, which means "guest" or "invitee". The word is used to refer to a group of women or to a group of guests that includes women. It is grammatically identical to the masculine plural invitées in terms of meaning but is marked for gender. invitées may appear alone, as the complement of a verb (e.g., « les invitées sont arrivées à midi »), or as part of a larger phrase (e.g., « les invitées de la soirée »). The adjective dérivé invité is also used in the feminine form invitée (singular) or invitées (plural) to describe someone who is physically or socially welcomed.

Etymology and orthography

the term invité comes from the past participle invitatus of the Latin verb invitare, meaning “to invite”. The feminine singular is invitée, and the feminine plural is invitées. The noun follows the regular French pattern of adding -e for the feminine singular and -es for the feminine plural. It is phonetically pronounced [ɛ̃vi.te] for the singular and [ɛ̃vi.te] as well for the plural, with the final -s silent in ordinary speech.

Usage in context

In everyday life, invitées appears in hotel check‑in registers, event invitations, and informal speech. For example, a concierge might say, « nos invitées pour ce soir sont trois » or a host might write, « invitées bienvenues sur notre salon ». In literature and cinema, the word can denote a character’s social status. It is also commonly seen in touristic brochures, where a host lists « invitées et invités » to indicate inclusivity. The feminine plural is correct only when the referenced guests are women or a mixed group that includes women; the masculine plural invitées is used for mixed groups only in colloquial French, contrasting with standard grammatical gender. Overall, invitées is a concise, standard French term for referring to women guests.