devoir
English
WOTD – 2 July 2016Category:Word of the day archiveCategory:Word of the day archive/2016/JulyCategory:Word of the day archive/2016
Etymology
Category:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#DEVOIRCategory:English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʰeh₁bʰ-#DEVOIRFrom Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#DEVOIRCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#DEVOIR devoir, borrowed from Middle FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Middle French#DEVOIR devoir, from Old FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Old French#DEVOIR deveir, from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#DEVOIR dēbēre (“to owe; ought, must”)Category:Latin links with redundant target parameters#DEVOIR.
Pronunciation
Noun
devoir (plural devoirs)Category:English lemmas#DEVOIRCategory:English nouns#DEVOIRCategory:English countable nouns#DEVOIRCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with entries#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with 4 entries#DEVOIR
- (archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#DEVOIR, often in plural) Duty, business; something that one must do.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 149:
- […] he imprint not so much in his schollers mind […] where Marcellus died, as because he was unworthy of his devoire he died there […].Category:English terms with quotations#DEVOIR
- 1787, “A female” [pseudonym; Winifred Marshall Gales], The History of Lady Emma Melcombe, and Her Family. By a Female. In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Printed for G. G. J. and J. Robinson, →OCLC, page 155:
- I should have long ere this paid my devoirs to the inhabitants of Raymond Castle.Category:English terms with quotations#DEVOIR
- 1836 July, “London Fashionable Chit-Chat”, in The Lady's Magazine and Museum of the Belles-lettres, Fine Arts, Music, Drama, Fashions, &c. (Improved Series. Enlarged.), volume IX, London: Dobbs & Co., Hemlock Court, Carey Street, Lincolns Inn (Formerly at 112, Fetter Lane), →OCLC, page 73:
- [M]y eyes were oft times [on the] charmante maitresse de la maison, who glided among her guests in her flowing Spanish mantilla, and train of the clearest blonde, doing her devoirs with winning kindness, and showing how much benevolence of manner adds to beauty.Category:English terms with quotations#DEVOIR
- 1873 March, H[enry] James Jr., “The Madonna of the Future”, in The Atlantic Monthly: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, volume XXXI, number CLXXXV, Boston, Mass.: James R. Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood & Co., page 277:
- A young man who arrives at Florence late in the evening, and, instead of going prosaically to bed, or hanging over the travellers' book at his hotel, walks forth without loss of time to pay his devoirs to the Beautiful, is a young man after my own heart!Category:English terms with quotations#DEVOIR
- 1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Benares [false, actually Stoke Newington, London]: Kamashastra Society, →OCLC:
- Then quoth the portress to the mistress of the house, "O my lady, arise and go to thy place that I in turn may do my devoir."Category:English terms with quotations#DEVOIR
- 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian, or Ruling Passions (The Avignon Quintet; 4), London; Boston, Mass.: Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0-571-13111-2; republished in The Avignon Quintet, London: Faber & Faber, 2004, ISBN 978-0-571-22555-2, page 1057:
- That is the little bit of essential information which enables us to complete our devoir – without it we are just ordinary people, dispossessed, taken unawares: the original sin!
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle FrenchCategory:French terms inherited from Middle French#DEVOIRCategory:French terms derived from Middle French#DEVOIR debvoir, from Old FrenchCategory:French terms inherited from Old French#DEVOIRCategory:French terms derived from Old French#DEVOIR deveir, from LatinCategory:French terms inherited from Latin#DEVOIRCategory:French terms derived from Latin#DEVOIR dēbēre (to owe; ought, must).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /də.vwaʁ/, (informal) /dvwaʁ/Category:French 2-syllable words#DEVOIRCategory:French 1-syllable words#DEVOIRCategory:French terms with IPA pronunciation#DEVOIR
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio: (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (France (Lyon)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (France (Lyon)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (France (Paris)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (France (Somain)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (France (Toulouse)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (France (Vosges)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (France (Vosges)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (Canada (Shawinigan)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (Canada (Shawinigan)): (file)
Category:French terms with audio pronunciation#DEVOIRAudio (Switzerland (Valais)): (file) - Rhymes: -waʁCategory:Rhymes:French/waʁ#DEVOIRCategory:Rhymes:French/waʁ/2 syllables#DEVOIR
Noun
devoir m (plural devoirs)Category:French lemmas#DEVOIRCategory:French nouns#DEVOIRCategory:French countable nouns#DEVOIRCategory:French entries with incorrect language header#DEVOIRCategory:French masculine nouns#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with entries#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with 4 entries#DEVOIR
- duty
- manquer à son devoir, manquer à tous ses devoirs ― to fail in one's duty, dutiesCategory:French terms with collocations#DEVOIR
- Il est de mon devoir de protéger le roi. ― It is my duty to protect the king.Category:French terms with usage examples#DEVOIR
- exercise, assignment (set for homework)
Derived terms
Verb
devoirCategory:French lemmas#DEVOIRCategory:French verbs#DEVOIRCategory:French modal verbs#DEVOIRCategory:French entries with incorrect language header#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with entries#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with 4 entries#DEVOIR
- must, to have to, should (as a requirement)
- Les auteurs d'un dictionnaire doivent déterminer au départ les catégories de mots à retenir, en fonction des limites imposées par l'éditeur et du public visé.
- The authors of a dictionary have to determine from the outset which categories of words to retain, according to the limits imposed by the editor, and the target audience.
- 2014, Jean-Claude Bernardon, Résolution de conflits:
- Votre langage doit vous permettre de maintenir une bonne distance de sécurité, être un peu plus poli et détaché que nécessaire est un avantage.Category:French terms with quotations#DEVOIR
- Your language should permit you to keep a fairly secure distance, [as] being slightly more formal and detached than necessary is an advantage.
- must, to do or have with certainty
- (transitiveCategory:French transitive verbs#DEVOIR) to owe (money, obligation and etc)
- (literaryCategory:French literary terms#DEVOIR, intransitiveCategory:French intransitive verbs#DEVOIR, in imperfect subjunctive, with inversion of subject) (even) if it is necessary (+ infinitive)
- 1842, George Sand, Consuelo:
- Eh bien, se dit-elle, j'irai, dussé-je affronter les dangers réels [...].Category:French terms with quotations#DEVOIR
- Well, she said to herself, I'll go, even if I have to face real danger.
- 1819, Pierre Capelle, Nouvelle Encyclopédie poétique -Tome XVIII, Ferra, page 112:
- Et, quand les sots sont les plus applaudis,Category:French terms with quotations#DEVOIR
Dussé-je en tout passer pour une grue,
Faveur se cache aussitôt qu’obtenue,
Tant j’aime encor comme on aimait jadis.- &, when the fools are the most applauded,
Were I to pass for everthing as a crane,
Favour hides as soon as it's obtained,
So many I love still as we loved in days of yore.
- &, when the fools are the most applauded,
- 18--, Charles Paul de Kock, chapter XIV, in L'ânè a M. Martin, Jules Rouff et Cie, Paris, page 132:
- Oui, oui, répond-on de tous côtés, nous vous attendrons... oh ! nous ne bougerons pas d'ici que vous ne soyez revenu, dussions-nous même y passer la nuit !Category:French terms with quotations#DEVOIR
- "Yes, yes," they answered from all sides, "we will wait for you...oh! we will not move from here if you do not return, even if we have to spend the night!
- (reflexiveCategory:French reflexive verbs#DEVOIR, ~ de) to have a duty to
- 1791, Louis XVI, “Message du roi, à l'Assemblée nationale, le 13 septembre 1791 [Message of the King to the National Assembly on 13 September 1791]”, in Constitution française, présentée au roi par l'Assemblée nationale, le 3 septembre 1791 [French constitution, presented to the King by the National Assembly on 3 September 1791], Dijon: Imprimerie de P. Causse, page 75:
- Aujourd'hui je dois aux intérêts de la nation, je me dois à moi-même de faire connoître mes motifs.Category:French terms with quotations#DEVOIR
- Today, I owe to the interests of the nation, [so] I owe it to myself to make my motives known.
Usage notes
- The circumflex accent applied to the u in the past participle dû serves only to distinguish it from the prepositive du (“of the”). As such, the circumflex is omitted in the participle's other inflections: due f sg, dus m pl, dues f pl. The diacritic is likewise omitted in the derived adjective indu (“undue, unwarranted”) and its inflected forms, but retained in the adverbial derivative dûment and indûment, where it serves as an etymological marker signaling the elision of the letter e from the older spelling duement. These latter, however, may be rendered dument and indument according to the orthographic reforms advanced by the Conseil supérieur de la langue française and approved by the Académie française in 1990.
- In negative constructions (e.g. ne pas devoir and ne plus devoir), the sense becomes "must not," "should not", etc.
- Je dois y aller. ― I must go. / I have to go.Category:French terms with usage examples#DEVOIR
- Je ne dois pas y aller. ― I must not go.Category:French terms with usage examples#DEVOIR
- Ne devriez-vous pas vous en aller ? ― Shouldn't you go away?Category:French terms with usage examples#DEVOIR
- Ça ne devrait plus vous poser de problèmes.
- That should no longer pose any problems.
Conjugation
Conjugation of devoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | devoir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | devant /də.vɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | dû /dy/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | dois /dwa/ |
dois /dwa/ |
doit /dwa/ |
devons /də.vɔ̃/ |
devez /də.ve/ |
doivent /dwav/ |
| imperfect | devais /də.vɛ/ |
devais /də.vɛ/ |
devait /də.vɛ/ |
devions /də.vjɔ̃/ |
deviez /də.vje/ |
devaient /də.vɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | dus /dy/ |
dus /dy/ |
dut /dy/ |
dûmes /dym/ |
dûtes /dyt/ |
durent /dyʁ/ | |
| future | devrai /də.vʁe/ |
devras /də.vʁa/ |
devra /də.vʁa/ |
devrons /də.vʁɔ̃/ |
devrez /də.vʁe/ |
devront /də.vʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | devrais /də.vʁɛ/ |
devrais /də.vʁɛ/ |
devrait /də.vʁɛ/ |
devrions /də.vʁi.jɔ̃/ |
devriez /də.vʁi.je/ |
devraient /də.vʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | doive /dwav/ |
doives /dwav/ |
doive /dwav/ |
devions /də.vjɔ̃/ |
deviez /də.vje/ |
doivent /dwav/ |
| imperfect2 | dusse /dys/ |
dusses /dys/ |
dût /dy/ |
dussions /dy.sjɔ̃/ |
dussiez /dy.sje/ |
dussent /dys/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | dois /dwa/ |
— | devons /də.vɔ̃/ |
devez /də.ve/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Conjugation of se devoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | se devoir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | s'être + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | se devant /sə də.vɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant or étant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | dû /dy/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | me dois /mə dwa/ |
te dois /tə dwa/ |
se doit /sə dwa/ |
nous devons /nu də.vɔ̃/ |
vous devez /vu də.ve/ |
se doivent /sə dwav/ |
| imperfect | me devais /mə də.vɛ/ |
te devais /tə də.vɛ/ |
se devait /sə də.vɛ/ |
nous devions /nu də.vjɔ̃/ |
vous deviez /vu də.vje/ |
se devaient /sə də.vɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | me dus /mə dy/ |
te dus /tə dy/ |
se dut /sə dy/ |
nous dûmes /nu dym/ |
vous dûtes /vu dyt/ |
se durent /sə dyʁ/ | |
| future | me devrai /mə də.vʁe/ |
te devras /tə də.vʁa/ |
se devra /sə də.vʁa/ |
nous devrons /nu də.vʁɔ̃/ |
vous devrez /vu də.vʁe/ |
se devront /sə də.vʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | me devrais /mə də.vʁɛ/ |
te devrais /tə də.vʁɛ/ |
se devrait /sə də.vʁɛ/ |
nous devrions /nu də.vʁi.jɔ̃/ |
vous devriez /vu də.vʁi.je/ |
se devraient /sə də.vʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | me doive /mə dwav/ |
te doives /tə dwav/ |
se doive /sə dwav/ |
nous devions /nu də.vjɔ̃/ |
vous deviez /vu də.vje/ |
se doivent /sə dwav/ |
| imperfect2 | me dusse /mə dys/ |
te dusses /tə dys/ |
se dût /sə dy/ |
nous dussions /nu dy.sjɔ̃/ |
vous dussiez /vu dy.sje/ |
se dussent /sə dys/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | dois-toi /dwa.twa/ |
— | devons-nous /də.vɔ̃.nu/ |
devez-vous /də.ve.vu/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
Further reading
- “devoir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
Middle English
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle FrenchCategory:Middle English terms borrowed from Middle French#DEVOIRCategory:Middle English terms derived from Middle French#DEVOIR devoir, from Old FrenchCategory:Middle English terms derived from Old French#DEVOIR devoir, deveir, from LatinCategory:Middle English terms derived from Latin#DEVOIR dēbēre (“to owe, to be duty bound to do something”)Category:Latin links with redundant target parameters#DEVOIR.
Noun
devoirCategory:Middle English lemmas#DEVOIRCategory:Middle English nouns#DEVOIRCategory:Middle English entries with incorrect language header#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with entries#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with 4 entries#DEVOIR (plural devoirs)
- devoir
- 1479, William Caxton, De Consolatione Philosophiæ, translated into English by Geoffrey Chaucer:
- I William Caxton have done my devoir to enprint itCategory:Middle English terms with quotations#DEVOIRCategory:Requests for translations of Middle English quotations#DEVOIR
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Descendants
- English: devoir
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From LatinCategory:Old French terms inherited from Latin#DEVOIRCategory:Old French terms derived from Latin#DEVOIR dēbēre.
Pronunciation
- (archaic) IPA(key): /dəˈvei̯ɾ/Category:Old French terms with IPA pronunciation#DEVOIR
- (classical) IPA(key): /dəˈvoi̯ɾ/, (northern) /dəˈvei̯ɾ/Category:Old French terms with IPA pronunciation#DEVOIR
- (late) IPA(key): /dəˈvo̯ɛɾ/, (northern) /dəˈveɾ/Category:Old French terms with IPA pronunciation#DEVOIR
Verb
devoirCategory:Old French lemmas#DEVOIRCategory:Old French verbs#DEVOIRCategory:Old French entries with incorrect language header#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with entries#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with 4 entries#DEVOIR
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem doiv distinct from the unstressed stem dev, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | devoir | avoir deu | |||||
| gerund | en devant | gerund of avoir + past participle | |||||
| present participle | devant | ||||||
| past participle | deu | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses |
present | doi | dois | doit | devons | devez | doivent |
| imperfect | devoie, deveie | devoies, deveies | devoit, deveit | deviiens, deviens | deviiez, deviez | devoient, deveient | |
| preterite | dui | deüs | dut | deümes | deüstes | durent | |
| future | devrai | devras | devra | devrons | devroiz, devreiz, devrez | devront | |
| conditional | devroie, devreie | devroies, devreies | devroit, devreit | devriiens, devriens | devriiez, devriez | devroient, devreient | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | present tense of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | preterite tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
| simple tenses |
present | doie, doive | doies, doives | doie, doive | doiiens, doions, devons | doiiez, devez | doient, doivent |
| imperfect | deüsse | deüsses | deüst | deüssons, deüssiens | deüssoiz, deüssez, deüssiez | deüssent | |
| compound tenses |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Noun
devoir oblique singular, m (oblique plural devoirs, nominative singular devoirs, nominative plural devoir)Category:Old French lemmas#DEVOIRCategory:Old French nouns#DEVOIRCategory:Old French masculine nouns#DEVOIRCategory:Old French entries with incorrect language header#DEVOIRCategory:Old French masculine nouns#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with entries#DEVOIRCategory:Pages with 4 entries#DEVOIR
Descendants
References
- Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “devoir”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.
- “Appendix E: Irregular Verbs” in E. Einhorn (1974), Old French: A Concise Handbook, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 152–153
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