effleurer
French edit
Etymology edit
From Middle French effleurer, from Old French esflourer, equivalent to ex- (“ex-”) + fleurer (“sprinkle”). In some senses, from Middle French fleur (“surface, top layer”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *flōr (“ground, floor”), from Proto-Germanic *flōraz.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
effleurer
- to stroke gently, to touch lightly
- Synonym: caresser
- to brush over, to brush past
- (figuratively) to skim over (a subject)
Conjugation edit
Conjugation of effleurer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | effleurer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | effleurant /e.flœ.ʁɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | effleuré /e.flœ.ʁe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | effleure /e.flœʁ/ |
effleures /e.flœʁ/ |
effleure /e.flœʁ/ |
effleurons /e.flœ.ʁɔ̃/ |
effleurez /e.flœ.ʁe/ |
effleurent /e.flœʁ/ |
| imperfect | effleurais /e.flœ.ʁɛ/ |
effleurais /e.flœ.ʁɛ/ |
effleurait /e.flœ.ʁɛ/ |
effleurions /e.flœ.ʁjɔ̃/ |
effleuriez /e.flœ.ʁje/ |
effleuraient /e.flœ.ʁɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | effleurai /e.flœ.ʁe/ |
effleuras /e.flœ.ʁa/ |
effleura /e.flœ.ʁa/ |
effleurâmes /e.flœ.ʁam/ |
effleurâtes /e.flœ.ʁat/ |
effleurèrent /e.flœ.ʁɛʁ/ | |
| future | effleurerai /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁe/ |
effleureras /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁa/ |
effleurera /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁa/ |
effleurerons /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ |
effleurerez /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁe/ |
effleureront /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | effleurerais /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ |
effleurerais /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ |
effleurerait /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ |
effleurerions /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
effleureriez /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁje/ |
effleureraient /e.flœ.ʁə.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 | effleure /e.flœʁ/ |
effleures /e.flœʁ/ |
effleure /e.flœʁ/ |
effleurions /e.flœ.ʁjɔ̃/ |
effleuriez /e.flœ.ʁje/ |
effleurent /e.flœʁ/ |
| imperfect2 | effleurasse /e.flœ.ʁas/ |
effleurasses /e.flœ.ʁas/ |
effleurât /e.flœ.ʁa/ |
effleurassions /e.flœ.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ |
effleurassiez /e.flœ.ʁa.sje/ |
effleurassent /e.flœ.ʁas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | effleure /e.flœʁ/ |
— | effleurons /e.flœ.ʁɔ̃/ |
effleurez /e.flœ.ʁe/ |
— | |
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Descendants edit
- → English: efflower
Further reading edit
- “effleurer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.