Cadre

Cadre ' onMouseout='HidePop("74489")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/French_language">French

French language

French is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...

 for framework) is the backbone of an organization

Organization

An organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, which controls its own performance, and which has a boundary separating it from its environment...

, usually a political or military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...

organization. The expression can be in the singular or the plural. Generally it is applied to a small core of committed and experienced people who are capable of providing leadership and of training newer members.

(Note: The British pronunciation CA-druh approximates to the original French word while the American preference for CA-dray makes the word sound like a borrowing from Spanish.)