The world of Expedition 33

Expedition 33 glossary: English ↔ French

Reading English guides while playing in French, or the other way round? Here are the game's official terms in both languages, sorted by theme and explained in a line.

Published 3 October 2026 · 9 min read

How to read this glossary

Every term below comes from the game's official localisation files, in English and French. The definitions are our own: they sum up what the tutorials explain. When both columns are identical, the English version simply kept the French word, which happens more often than you might expect.

This glossary helps in two situations: when a French guide or wiki uses a term you do not recognise, and when a name escapes you in Clair Obscurdle's modes, which accept either language.

The world and its inhabitants

English	French	Definition
Gommage	Gommage	The yearly erasure: everyone of the age painted by the Paintress disappears. The word comes from the French gommer, to rub out.
Paintress	Peintresse	The one who wakes once a year to paint a number on her Monolith.
The Monolith	Monolithe	The structure on which the Paintress paints her number, and the goal of every expedition.
Lumière	Lumière	Humanity's last city, on an island. Every expedition sets out from there.
Expedition	Expédition	The group Lumière sends out each year to destroy the Paintress. Expedition 33 is the latest.
The Continent	Continent	The land across the sea, and the name of the world map in the game.
Fracture	Fracture	The cataclysm that shattered the world 67 years before the story begins. Note that the French version also uses the word in combat, for the Break Bar (jauge de Fracture).
Nevron	Névron	The hostile creatures of the Continent, your opponents in most fights.
Chromatic Nevron	Névron chromatique	A tougher version of a Nevron, fought as an optional boss.
Gestral	Gestral	A people of creatures who live for fighting and challenges, led by Golgra.
Axon	Axon	Beings of extraordinary power. Two must be defeated to forge the weapon that pierces the Monolith's barrier.
Chroma	Chroma	The world's energy, which also serves as currency with merchants.
Esquie	Esquie	The legendary creature who carries the expedition across the Continent.
Florrie	Florrie	Esquie's rock, thanks to which he can swim.

Combat

English	French	Definition
AP	PA	Action points: a basic attack earns 1, skills spend them.
Timeline	Timeline	The strip showing the turn order, on the left of the screen.
First Strike	Initiative	Hitting an enemy in the field before the fight to start it with an advantage.
Dodge	Esquive	Avoiding an attack's damage by reacting at the right moment.
Parry	Parade	Blocking a blow instead of avoiding it. Parrying a whole attack opens the way to a Counter.
Counter	Contre	A powerful riposte, triggered when you parry every hit of an attack.
Expedition Counter	Contre d'expédition	The counter you get by parrying an attack aimed at the whole expedition at once.
Jump	Saut	The only defence against attacks announced by a jump flare.
Jump Counter	Contre sauté	The riposte available right after a successful jump.
Gradient Attack	Attaque Gradient	A special attack. Each AP spent on skills fills the Gradient Gauge, and a full gauge grants a charge any character can use.
Gradient Counter	Contre Gradient	The only way to defend against an enemy Gradient Attack.
Free Aim	Visée libre	Manual shooting. Each shot costs 1 AP; ideal against flying enemies and weak points.
Break Bar	Jauge de Fracture	A bar under an enemy's health that fills with damage. Once full, the enemy can be Broken: it takes 20% more damage and is usually stunned for a turn.
Elemental Affinities	Affinités élémentaires	How an enemy relates to each element.
Weakness	Faiblesse	The enemy takes 50% more damage from that element.
Resistance	Résistance	The enemy takes 50% less damage.
Nullify	Annulation	The element deals no damage at all.
Absorb	Absorption	The element heals the enemy instead of hurting it.
Shields	Boucliers	Protections some enemies carry.
Flight	Fuite	Leaving a battle by holding the dedicated button during your turn. Possible against most enemies, not all.
QTE	Actions contextuelles (QTE)	Pressing at the right moment during a skill to boost its effect.
Buffs and Debuffs	Buffs et débuffs	Temporary positive and negative effects, covered in the status effects section.

Progression

English	French	Definition
Pictos	Pictos	Equipment that raises a character's stats and grants a passive effect.
Lumina	Lumina	The passive effect tied to a Pictos. Once learned, a Lumina can be equipped without the Pictos.
Lumina Points	Points de lumina	The resource used to equip Luminas.
Expedition Flag	Drapeau d'expédition	A rest point planted by an earlier expedition: heal, recharge your items, learn skills and spend attribute points.
Skill and Attribute points	Points de compétence et d'attribut	Each level brings 1 skill point and 3 attribute points.
Camp	Camp	A stop to rest and talk with the party, available at any time from the Continent.
Curator	Conservateur	He upgrades weapons in exchange for Chroma Catalysts.
Chroma Catalyst	Catalyseur de chroma	The weapon upgrade material; each weapon quality needs its own.
Weapon Upgrade	Amélioration d'arme	Raises attack power and attribute scaling; some tiers unlock new passive effects.
Chroma Elixir	Élixir de chroma	Fully heals every member of the expedition.
Merchants	Marchands	Gestral merchants who roam the world and sell rare items for Chroma.
Paint Cage	Sphère de peinture	Holds rare loot; shoot its three locks to open it.
Paint Break	Brise Peinture	The way past the paint spikes that sometimes block the road.

Character mechanics

English	French	Definition
Overcharge	Surcharge	Gustave: his arm charges as he deals damage, dodges or parries, then releases a blast.
Stains	Pigments	Lune: her skills generate Stains that other skills consume to grow stronger.
Stances	Postures	Maelle: each Stance changes the damage she deals or takes.
Defensive	Défensive	-50% damage taken and +1 AP per successful parry or dodge.
Offensive	Offensive	+50% damage dealt, but also +50% damage taken.
Virtuose	Virtuose	+200% damage dealt.
Stanceless	Sans posture	No Stance effect active.
Foretell	Présage	Sciel: an effect some skills apply to enemies and others consume.
Sun, Moon	Soleil, Lune	Sciel: the two kinds of charges her skills create.
Twilight	Crépuscule	Sciel: the state reached by combining Sun and Moon. Bonus damage, double Foretell applied and double maximum Foretell.
Perfection	Perfection	Verso: his power grows as he attacks without getting hit.
Perfection Rank	Rang de Perfection	Verso's current level of Perfection; higher ranks unlock new skill effects.
Bestial Wheel	Roue bestiale	Monoco: a dial whose pointer moves with each skill; skills matching the current slot are stronger.
Agile, Balanced, Heavy, Caster, Almighty	Agile, Équilibré, Brutal, Occulte, Omnipotent	The states of the Bestial Wheel.
Nevron Skills	Compétences de Névron	Monoco learns them by collecting the feet of defeated Nevrons.

Status effects

English	French	Definition
Burn	Brûlure	Deals damage at the start of the target's turn. Several Burns stack.
Freeze	Gel	Prevents acting for several turns, but wears off as soon as the target takes damage.
Stun	Étourdissement	Prevents acting.
Mark	Marque	The next damage taken is increased by 50%, once.
Defenceless	Vulnérabilité	+25% damage taken.
Powerful	Surpuissance	+25% damage dealt.
Powerless	Affaiblissement	Reduces damage dealt: the negative counterpart of Powerful.
Shell	Carapace	-20% damage taken.
Rush	Rapidité	+33% speed.
Slow	Lenteur	-25% speed.
Regen	Régénération	Restores 10% of maximum health at the start of each turn.
Exhausted	Épuisement	No AP gain at all, whatever the source.
Silence	Silence	Prevents the use of skills.

Other status effects exist, which we do not describe here for lack of an official description to hand:

Cursed (Malédiction)
Blight (Corruption)
Bound (Entrave)
Charm (Charme)
Dizzy (Vertige)
Inverted (Inversion)
Berserk (Berserker)
Rage (Rage)
Barbapapa (Barbapapa), which really is called that in both languages

Clair Obscurdle vocabulary

English	French	Meaning on the site
Daily	Quotidien	The puzzle of the day, the same for everyone, refreshed at midnight local time.
Free	Libre	Unlimited random draws that do not affect your statistics.
Streak	Série	The number of consecutive days you solved a mode's daily puzzle.
Best	Record	Your longest streak in that mode.
Wins	Victoires	The total number of daily puzzles solved in that mode.
Chromatic	Chromatique	An elite variant of a Nevron. In the grid, all of them have the Optional Boss role.
Mob	Mob	An ordinary enemy. Mobs only appear in Complete mode.
NPC	PNJ	A non-playable character.
Optional Boss	Boss optionnel	A boss you can choose to skip in the game.

Names that change between languages

Many characters and weapons share the same name in both versions, but not all of them. Here are the differences you are most likely to run into in our modes:

English	French	What it is
The Paintress	Peintresse	Boss
Lampmaster	Maître des lampes	Boss
Mask Keeper	Maître du Masque	Axon
Abbest	Mitrien	Nevron
Jar	Amphorien	Nevron
Luster	Lustrion	Nevron
Ballet	Ballerine	Nevron
Sapling	Arbuscule	Nevron
Scavenger	Charognard	Enemy-mode boss
Greatsword Cultist	Cultiste épéiste	Nevron
Reaper Cultist	Cultiste faucheur	Nevron
Gold Chevaliere	Chevalière en or	Nevron
Half-baked Gestral	Gestral croqué	Enemy-mode boss
Corpeso	Cadavreso	Gustave and Verso's weapon
Dreameso	Songeso	Gustave and Verso's weapon
Jarum	Amphorum	Maelle's weapon
Barrier Breaker	Brise-barrière	Maelle's weapon
Scaverim	Charorim	Lune's weapon
Rangeson	Forestion	Sciel's weapon

Notice the pattern: a weapon's name often follows an enemy's name in each language. Jarum comes from Jar just as Amphorum comes from Amphorien, and Rangeson from the Ranger Sakapatate just as Forestion comes from the Sakapatate forestier. No need to pick one: the site's search accepts both spellings and ignores accents.

To go further, see these mechanics in context in our guide to the playable characters, the setting in the world of the game, and every enemy in the enemy codex.