6 habitudes pour un rituel matinal sain

What does “à jeun” mean in French?

À jeun means on an empty stomach — you haven’t eaten yet, typically first thing in the morning. The morning-routine tip “un verre d’eau à jeun” is a glass of water before any food. You’ll meet the phrase constantly at the doctor’s too: “venir à jeun” means show up fasting, no breakfast, before a blood test or an operation.

Jeun comes from Latin jejunus, “having eaten nothing” — the same root as jeûne (a fast) and jeûner (to fast). And the everyday word for breakfast, déjeuner, literally means “to break the fast,” dé- undoing the jeûne, exactly like English “break-fast.” So à jeun is the state you’re in right up until you déjeune.