(1856–1951), French general and statesman, head of state 1940–4; full name Henri Philippe Omer Pétain. He concluded an armistice with Nazi Germany in 1940 and established the French government at Vichy (effectively a puppet regime for the Third Reich) until 1944.
Definition of Pétain, Philippe in US English:
Pétain, Philippe
proper nounpāˈtaN
(1856–1951), French general and statesman; head of state 1940–44; full name Henri Philippe Omer Pétain. In 1940, he established the French government at Vichy (effectively a puppet regime for the Third Reich) until the German occupation in 1942. After the war, his death sentence for collaboration was commuted to life imprisonment.