baptiser

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French baptiser, from Old French baptisier, borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin, Late Latin baptīzāre, from Ancient Greek βαπτῑ́ζω (baptī́zō, “to immerse, to baptize”). Replaced the inherited Old French baptoier, batoyer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.ti.ze/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

baptiser

1. to baptise
2. to christen

Conjugation

Conjugation of baptiser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	baptiser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	baptisant /ba.ti.zɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		baptisé /ba.ti.ze/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	baptise /ba.tiz/	baptises /ba.tiz/	baptise /ba.tiz/	baptisons /ba.ti.zɔ̃/	baptisez /ba.ti.ze/	baptisent /ba.tiz/
	imperfect	baptisais /ba.ti.zɛ/	baptisais /ba.ti.zɛ/	baptisait /ba.ti.zɛ/	baptisions /ba.ti.zjɔ̃/	baptisiez /ba.ti.zje/	baptisaient /ba.ti.zɛ/
	past historic2	baptisai /ba.ti.ze/	baptisas /ba.ti.za/	baptisa /ba.ti.za/	baptisâmes /ba.ti.zam/	baptisâtes /ba.ti.zat/	baptisèrent /ba.ti.zɛʁ/
	future	baptiserai /ba.tiz.ʁe/	baptiseras /ba.tiz.ʁa/	baptisera /ba.tiz.ʁa/	baptiserons /ba.tiz.ʁɔ̃/	baptiserez /ba.tiz.ʁe/	baptiseront /ba.tiz.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	baptiserais /ba.tiz.ʁɛ/	baptiserais /ba.tiz.ʁɛ/	baptiserait /ba.tiz.ʁɛ/	baptiserions /ba.ti.zə.ʁjɔ̃/	baptiseriez /ba.ti.zə.ʁje/	baptiseraient /ba.tiz.ʁɛ/
(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	baptise /ba.tiz/	baptises /ba.tiz/	baptise /ba.tiz/	baptisions /ba.ti.zjɔ̃/	baptisiez /ba.ti.zje/	baptisent /ba.tiz/
	imperfect2	baptisasse /ba.ti.zas/	baptisasses /ba.ti.zas/	baptisât /ba.ti.za/	baptisassions /ba.ti.za.sjɔ̃/	baptisassiez /ba.ti.za.sje/	baptisassent /ba.ti.zas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	baptise /ba.tiz/	—	baptisons /ba.ti.zɔ̃/	baptisez /ba.ti.ze/	—
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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Related terms

• baptême
• baptisme
• baptiste
• baptistère

Further reading

• “baptiser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Verb

baptīser

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of baptīsō

Middle French

Alternative forms

• baptizer

Etymology

From Old French baptiser.

Verb

baptiser

1. to baptize

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of baptiser

infinitive	simple	baptiser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	baptisant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		baptisé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	baptise	baptises	baptise	baptisons	baptisez	baptisent
	imperfect	baptisois, baptisoys	baptisois, baptisoys	baptisoit, baptisoyt	baptisions, baptisyons	baptisiez, baptisyez	baptisoient, baptisoyent
	past historic	baptisa	baptisas	baptisa	baptisasmes	baptisastes	baptiserent
	future	baptiserai, baptiseray	baptiseras	baptisera	baptiserons	baptiserez	baptiseront
	conditional	baptiserois, baptiseroys	baptiserois, baptiseroys	baptiseroit, baptiseroyt	baptiserions, baptiseryons	baptiseriez, baptiseryez	baptiseroient, baptiseroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	baptise	baptises	baptise	baptisons	baptisez	baptisent
	imperfect	baptisasse	baptisasses	baptisast	baptisassions	baptisassiez	baptisassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	baptise	—	baptisons	baptisez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: baptiser