engager

engage +‎ -er.

engager (plural engagers)

1. One who, or that which, engages.

   engagers in conflicts

2. One who enters into an engagement or agreement; a surety.
   • Wood

     Several sufficient citizens were engagers.

From Middle French, from Old French engagier (“to pawn, make a pledge, plight”), from en- + gage (“pledge”), from Late Latin vadium (“pledge”), from Frankish *wadja (“pledge”), from Proto-Germanic *wadjō, *wadją (“pledge, guarantee”), from Proto-Indo-European *wadh- (“guarantee, bail”). Cognate with Middle Dutch wedde (“property, pay”), Old High German wetti (“collateral, security agreement”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌹 (wadi), 𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌾𐌰 (wadja, “guarantee”), Old English wedd (“pledge, vow”). More at wed.

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒe/

• audio

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engager

1. to pledge, commit
2. to hire, sign, snap up
3. to involve
4. to encourage
5. to pawn
6. (military) to enlist
7. to enter into (as, e.g., a conversation)

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written engage- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a “soft” /ʒ/ and not a “hard” /ɡ/). This spelling-change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

• engagement
• engagiste

• → Italian: ingaggiare

• “engager” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• regagne, regagné

engager

1. Alternative form of engagier

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. In the present tense an extra supporting e is needed in the first-person singular indicative and throughout the singular subjunctive, and the third-person singular subjunctive ending -t is lost. In addition, g becomes j before an a or an o to keep the /dʒ/ sound intact. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.