hacher

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French hacher, from Old French hacher, hachier, from Frankish *hakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop; hack”). More at hack.

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /a.ʃe/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

hacher

1. to chop up, mince

   hacher la viande

   chop up the meat

   bœuf haché

   minced beef

2. (dated) to split with an axe
3. (rare) to cut roughly and unequally
4. (formal) to cut or hit repeatedly with something sharp; to slash
5. (formal, rare) to speak or write with a very unequal or irregular style or rhythm

Usage notes

• In literary description, the adjective haché is much more common than the verb.

Conjugation

Conjugation of hacher (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	hacher
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	hachant /a.ʃɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		haché /a.ʃe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	hache /aʃ/	haches /aʃ/	hache /aʃ/	hachons /a.ʃɔ̃/	hachez /a.ʃe/	hachent /aʃ/
	imperfect	hachais /a.ʃɛ/	hachais /a.ʃɛ/	hachait /a.ʃɛ/	hachions /a.ʃjɔ̃/	hachiez /a.ʃje/	hachaient /a.ʃɛ/
	past historic2	hachai /a.ʃe/	hachas /a.ʃa/	hacha /a.ʃa/	hachâmes /a.ʃam/	hachâtes /a.ʃat/	hachèrent /a.ʃɛʁ/
	future	hacherai /aʃ.ʁe/	hacheras /aʃ.ʁa/	hachera /aʃ.ʁa/	hacherons /aʃ.ʁɔ̃/	hacherez /aʃ.ʁe/	hacheront /aʃ.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	hacherais /aʃ.ʁɛ/	hacherais /aʃ.ʁɛ/	hacherait /aʃ.ʁɛ/	hacherions /a.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/	hacheriez /a.ʃə.ʁje/	hacheraient /aʃ.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	hache /aʃ/	haches /aʃ/	hache /aʃ/	hachions /a.ʃjɔ̃/	hachiez /a.ʃje/	hachent /aʃ/
	imperfect2	hachasse /a.ʃas/	hachasses /a.ʃas/	hachât /a.ʃa/	hachassions /a.ʃa.sjɔ̃/	hachassiez /a.ʃa.sje/	hachassent /a.ʃas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	hache /aʃ/	—	hachons /a.ʃɔ̃/	hachez /a.ʃe/	—
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).

Derived terms

• steak haché
• viande hachée

Related terms

• hachage
• hache
• hachement
• hacheur
• hache-viande
• hachoir
• hachure
• hachurer

Descendants

• → English: hash

Further reading

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

Middle French

Alternative forms

• hachier, hâcher

Etymology

From Old French hacher, hachier, from Frankish *hakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop; hack”).

Verb

hacher

1. to chop up, mince

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of hacher

infinitive	simple	hacher
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	hachant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		haché
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	hache	haches	hache	hachons	hachez	hachent
	imperfect	hachois, hachoys	hachois, hachoys	hachoit, hachoyt	hachions, hachyons	hachiez, hachyez	hachoient, hachoyent
	past historic	hacha	hachas	hacha	hachasmes	hachastes	hacherent
	future	hacherai, hacheray	hacheras	hachera	hacherons	hacherez	hacheront
	conditional	hacherois, hacheroys	hacherois, hacheroys	hacheroit, hacheroyt	hacherions, hacheryons	hacheriez, hacheryez	hacheroient, hacheroyent
(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	hache	haches	hache	hachons	hachez	hachent
	imperfect	hachasse	hachasses	hachast	hachassions	hachassiez	hachassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	hache	—	hachons	hachez	—
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: hacher
  • → English: hash
• → Dutch: arceren
  • → Indonesian: arsir

Old French

Alternative forms

• hachier, hascher

Etymology

Borrowed from Frankish *hakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop; hack”).

Verb

hacher

1. to chop up, mince

Conjugation

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. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of hacher (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		hacher			avoir haché
gerund		en hachant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		hachant
past participle		haché
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	hache	haches	hache	hachons	hachez	hachent
	imperfect	hachoie, hacheie, hachoe, hacheve	hachoies, hacheies, hachoes, hacheves	hachoit, hacheit, hachot, hacheve	hachiiens, hachiens	hachiiez, hachiez	hachoient, hacheient, hachoent, hachevent
	preterite	hachai	hachas	hacha	hachames	hachastes	hacherent
	future	hacherai	hacheras	hachera	hacherons	hacheroiz, hachereiz, hacherez	hacheront
	conditional	hacheroie, hachereie	hacheroies, hachereies	hacheroit, hachereit	hacheriiens, hacheriens	hacheriiez, hacheriez	hacheroient, hachereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	hache	haches	hache	hachons	hachez	hachent
	imperfect	hachasse	hachasses	hachast	hachissons, hachissiens	hachissoiz, hachissez, hachissiez	hachassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	hache	—	hachons	hachez	—

Descendants

• Middle French: hacher, hachier, hâcher
  • French: hacher
    • → English: hash
  • → Dutch: arceren
    • → Indonesian: arsir
• Gallo: haèchae
• Norman: haguer, hager (Guernesiais)
• Picard: hacheu, acjheu, èkieu (Athois), héquer
• Walloon: atchè (Forrières)