desmettre

Middle French

Alternative forms

• deſmettre (original typography)

Etymology

From Old French *desmetre, from Latin dēmittō (“send or bring down, let fall”).

Verb

desmettre

1. (reflexive, se desmettre) to lower oneself, to stoop
   • Michel de Montaigne, Essais:

     […] pour lesquelles auctoriser et seconder, la vraye vertu a beaucoup à se desmettre de sa vigueur originelle.

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of desmettre

infinitive	simple	desmettre
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	desmettant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		desmis
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	desmets	desmets	desmet	desmettons	desmettez	desmettent
	imperfect	desmettois, desmettoys	desmettois, desmettoys	desmettoit, desmettoyt	desmettions	desmettiez	desmettoient, desmettoyent
	past historic	desmis	desmis	desmit	desmismes	desmistes	desmirent
	future	desmettroie, desmettroye	desmettras	desmettra	desmettrons	desmettrez	desmettront
	conditional	desmettrois, desmettroys	desmettrois, desmettroys	desmettroit, desmettroyt	desmettrions	desmettriez	desmettroient, desmettroyent
(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	desmette	desmettes	desmette	desmettions	desmettiez	desmenttent
	imperfect	desmisse	desmisses	desmist	desmissions	desmissiez	desmissent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	desmets	—	desmettons	desmettez	—
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

• English: dismiss (borrowed, from the past participle desmis)
• French: démettre