devoir
English
Etymology
From Middle English devoir, borrowed from French devoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre (“to owe; ought, must”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dəˈvwɑː/
- Hyphenation: de‧voir
Noun
devoir (plural devoirs)
- (archaic, often in plural) Duty, business; something that one must do.
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, […], book I, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821, 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 […].
- 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 316739067, page 155:
- I should have long ere this paid my devoirs to the inhabitants of Raymond Castle.
- 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 5140771156, 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.
- 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!
- 1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night: With Introduction, Explanatory Notes on the Manners and Customs of Moslem Men, and a Terminal Essay upon the History of The Nights, Benares [false, actually Stoke Newington, London]: Kamashastra Society, OCLC 556574150:
- 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."
- 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!
-
French
Etymology
From Middle French debvoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre, present active infinitive of to owe; ought, must.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /də.vwaʁ/
audio (file) - Rhymes: -waʁ
Derived terms
Verb
devoir
- must, to have to (as a requirement)
- must, to do or have with certainty
- (transitive) to owe (money, obligation and etc)
- (literary, intransitive, in imperfect subjunctive, with inversion of subject) (even) though it be necessary (+ infinitive)
- 1842, George Sand, Consuelo:
- Eh bien, se dit-elle, j'irai, dussé-je affronter les dangers réels [...]. ⇒ Well, she said to herself, I'll go, even if I have to face real danger.
- 1842, George Sand, Consuelo:
- (reflexive, ~ de) to have a duty to
Usage notes
Conjugation
present participle | devant /də.vɑ̃/ | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
past participle | dû /dy/ | ||||||
infinitive | |||||||
simple | devoir | ||||||
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
gerund1 | |||||||
simple | devant /də.vɑ̃/ | ||||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle | 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 Only usable with preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
present participle | se devant /sə də.vɑ̃/ | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
past participle | dû /dy/ | ||||||
infinitive | |||||||
simple | se devoir | ||||||
compound | s'être + past participle | ||||||
gerund1 | |||||||
simple | se devant /sə də.vɑ̃/ | ||||||
compound | s'étant + past participle | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle | 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 Only usable with preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
Derived terms
See also
Further reading
- “devoir” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Middle English
Etymology
Borrowed from French devoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre (“to owe, to be duty bound to do something”).
Noun
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 it
- 1479, William Caxton, De Consolatione Philosophiæ, translated into English by Geoffrey Chaucer:
Old French
Etymology
From earlier deveir, from Latin dēbēre, present active infinitive of I owe, I am duty bound to do something.
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 | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the 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 | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the 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 | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
— | — | — | — | — | — |
Descendants
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (devoir)
- “Appendix E: Irregular Verbs” in E. Einhorn (1974), Old French: A Concise Handbook, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 152–153