The circumflex is a diacritic used in French. It is often used in words that once had an s. Here is a list of ten French words which once had an s in French:
ancêtre (ancestor)
bête (beast)
conquête (conquest)
côte (coast)
coût (cost)
croûte (crust)
forêt (forest)
hôpital (hospital)
hôte (host)
île (island)
The French words from the list once had an s. It disappeared, but the s is retained in English. The French circumflex often indicates the loss of the historical s.
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