longer

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɒŋ.ɡə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlɔŋ.ɡɚ/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑŋ.ɡɚ/
• (Ireland (rural)) IPA^(key): [ˈlɑŋ.əɾ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒŋɡə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From Middle English longer, longere, normalisation of Middle English lenger, lengere (“longer”), from Old English lengra (“longer”), from Proto-Germanic *langizô (“longer”), comparative of Proto-Germanic *langaz (“long”), equivalent to long +‎ -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian laanger (“longer”), West Frisian langer (“longer”), Dutch langer (“longer”), German länger (“longer”), Danish længere (“longer”), Swedish längre (“longer”), Icelandic lengri (“longer”).

Adjective

longer

1. comparative form of long: more long

Adverb

longer

1. comparative form of long: more long

Derived terms

• any longer
• no longer

 

Etymology 2

long (“yearn”) +‎ -er

Noun

longer (plural longers)

1. One who longs or yearns for something.

Further reading

• “longer”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

French

Etymology

From long +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔ̃.ʒe/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

longer

1. to walk along, run along

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of longer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	longer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	longeant /lɔ̃.ʒɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		longé /lɔ̃.ʒe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	longe /lɔ̃ʒ/	longes /lɔ̃ʒ/	longe /lɔ̃ʒ/	longeons /lɔ̃.ʒɔ̃/	longez /lɔ̃.ʒe/	longent /lɔ̃ʒ/
	imperfect	longeais /lɔ̃.ʒɛ/	longeais /lɔ̃.ʒɛ/	longeait /lɔ̃.ʒɛ/	longions /lɔ̃.ʒjɔ̃/	longiez /lɔ̃.ʒje/	longeaient /lɔ̃.ʒɛ/
	past historic2	longeai /lɔ̃.ʒe/	longeas /lɔ̃.ʒa/	longea /lɔ̃.ʒa/	longeâmes /lɔ̃.ʒam/	longeâtes /lɔ̃.ʒat/	longèrent /lɔ̃.ʒɛʁ/
	future	longerai /lɔ̃ʒ.ʁe/	longeras /lɔ̃ʒ.ʁa/	longera /lɔ̃ʒ.ʁa/	longerons /lɔ̃ʒ.ʁɔ̃/	longerez /lɔ̃ʒ.ʁe/	longeront /lɔ̃ʒ.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	longerais /lɔ̃ʒ.ʁɛ/	longerais /lɔ̃ʒ.ʁɛ/	longerait /lɔ̃ʒ.ʁɛ/	longerions /lɔ̃.ʒə.ʁjɔ̃/	longeriez /lɔ̃.ʒə.ʁje/	longeraient /lɔ̃ʒ.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	longe /lɔ̃ʒ/	longes /lɔ̃ʒ/	longe /lɔ̃ʒ/	longions /lɔ̃.ʒjɔ̃/	longiez /lɔ̃.ʒje/	longent /lɔ̃ʒ/
	imperfect2	longeasse /lɔ̃.ʒas/	longeasses /lɔ̃.ʒas/	longeât /lɔ̃.ʒa/	longeassions /lɔ̃.ʒa.sjɔ̃/	longeassiez /lɔ̃.ʒa.sje/	longeassent /lɔ̃.ʒas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	longe /lɔ̃ʒ/	—	longeons /lɔ̃.ʒɔ̃/	longez /lɔ̃.ʒe/	—
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).

See also

• border
• côtoyer

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• grêlon