nager

From Old French nagier, inherited from a reduced form of Latin navigāre, present active infinitive of navigō. Doublet of naviguer, a later borrowing. Displaced Old French noer, from Latin natāre, natō (“to swim”).

• IPA^(key): /na.ʒe/

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• Rhymes: -e
• Homophones: nagé, nageai, nagée, nagées, nagés, nagez

nager

1. to swim

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written nage- 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.

• nageoire
• nageur

• natation

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

• range, rangé, régna

From Old French nager, nagier.

nager

1. to navigate (waters); to sail; to travel by watercraft

• French: nager

• nager on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500) (in French)

nager

1. (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of nagier
   • circa 1110, Benedeit, Le Voyage de saint Brandan:

     Un meis sanz vent nagerent tut plein

     They sailed for a whole month without wind

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.