navrer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French navrer (“to wound”), from Old French navrer, nafrer (“to hurt by piercing or cutting, pierce through the heart, break someone's heart”), first attested in Norman texts; then later, through chivalry, in texts from Central and Southern France. Further origin uncertain, but likely from Old Norse nafra (“to pierce or bore with an auger”), from nafarr (“auger”). Compare Catalan nafrar (“to wound”).

Alternatively, derivation from Latin naufragāre (“to make or become shipwrecked, ruin, spoil”) has also been suggested, although this is less likely based on phonological and semantic grounds: naufragāre would have typically resulted in Old French *nofraier, *noufrayer rather than navrer, nafrer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na.vʁe/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

navrer

1. (transitive) to cause great pain or affliction
2. (transitive, figurative, now chiefly used in the participle) to upset; dismay

   Synonyms: agacer, contrarier, fâcher

3. (transitive, obsolete or dialectal) to wound

   Synonym: blesser

Conjugation

Conjugation of navrer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	navrer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	navrant /na.vʁɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		navré /na.vʁe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	navre /navʁ/	navres /navʁ/	navre /navʁ/	navrons /na.vʁɔ̃/	navrez /na.vʁe/	navrent /navʁ/
	imperfect	navrais /na.vʁɛ/	navrais /na.vʁɛ/	navrait /na.vʁɛ/	navrions /na.vʁi.jɔ̃/	navriez /na.vʁi.je/	navraient /na.vʁɛ/
	past historic2	navrai /na.vʁe/	navras /na.vʁa/	navra /na.vʁa/	navrâmes /na.vʁam/	navrâtes /na.vʁat/	navrèrent /na.vʁɛʁ/
	future	navrerai /na.vʁə.ʁe/	navreras /na.vʁə.ʁa/	navrera /na.vʁə.ʁa/	navrerons /na.vʁə.ʁɔ̃/	navrerez /na.vʁə.ʁe/	navreront /na.vʁə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	navrerais /na.vʁə.ʁɛ/	navrerais /na.vʁə.ʁɛ/	navrerait /na.vʁə.ʁɛ/	navrerions /na.vʁə.ʁjɔ̃/	navreriez /na.vʁə.ʁje/	navreraient /na.vʁə.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	navre /navʁ/	navres /navʁ/	navre /navʁ/	navrions /na.vʁi.jɔ̃/	navriez /na.vʁi.je/	navrent /navʁ/
	imperfect2	navrasse /na.vʁas/	navrasses /na.vʁas/	navrât /na.vʁa/	navrassions /na.vʁa.sjɔ̃/	navrassiez /na.vʁa.sje/	navrassent /na.vʁas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	navre /navʁ/	—	navrons /na.vʁɔ̃/	navrez /na.vʁe/	—
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

• navrance
• navrant
• navré
• navrement
• navrure

Further reading

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

Middle French

Verb

navrer

1. to injure

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of navrer

infinitive	simple	navrer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	navrant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		navré
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	navre	navres	navre	navrons	navrez	navrent
	imperfect	navrois, navroys	navrois, navroys	navroit, navroyt	navrions, navryons	navriez, navryez	navroient, navroyent
	past historic	navra	navras	navra	navrasmes	navrastes	navrerent
	future	navrerai, navreray	navreras	navrera	navrerons	navrerez	navreront
	conditional	navrerois, navreroys	navrerois, navreroys	navreroit, navreroyt	navrerions, navreryons	navreriez, navreryez	navreroient, navreroyent
(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	navre	navres	navre	navrons	navrez	navrent
	imperfect	navrasse	navrasses	navrast	navrassions	navrassiez	navrassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	navre	—	navrons	navrez	—
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).

References

• navrer on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)