peser

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French peser, from Old French peser, from Classical Latin pēnsāre, whence also the doublet penser 'think'.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pə.ze/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Homophones: pesai, pesé, pesée, pesées, pesés

Verb

peser

1. (intransitive) to weigh (to have a weight of)

   Je pèse 80 kilos

   I weigh 80 kilos

   1. (computing, intransitive) of a file, to have a given size

   Les pièces jointes doivent peser moins de 8 Mo.

   Attachments must be under 8 megabytes.

2. (transitive) to weigh (to see how much something weighs)

   Il faut peser les abricots

   You must weigh the apricots

3. to burden, weigh down

   Ça lui pèse.

   'That weighs on his mind.'

Conjugation

This verb is conjugated like parler, except the -e- /ə/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /ɛ/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-, as in the third-person singular present indicative il pèse and the third-person singular future indicative il pèsera.

Conjugation of peser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	peser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	pesant /pə.zɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		pesé /pə.ze/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	pèse /pɛz/	pèses /pɛz/	pèse /pɛz/	pesons /pə.zɔ̃/	pesez /pə.ze/	pèsent /pɛz/
	imperfect	pesais /pə.zɛ/	pesais /pə.zɛ/	pesait /pə.zɛ/	pesions /pə.zjɔ̃/	pesiez /pə.zje/	pesaient /pə.zɛ/
	past historic2	pesai /pə.ze/	pesas /pə.za/	pesa /pə.za/	pesâmes /pə.zam/	pesâtes /pə.zat/	pesèrent /pə.zɛʁ/
	future	pèserai /pɛz.ʁe/	pèseras /pɛz.ʁa/	pèsera /pɛz.ʁa/	pèserons /pɛz.ʁɔ̃/	pèserez /pɛz.ʁe/	pèseront /pɛz.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	pèserais /pɛz.ʁɛ/	pèserais /pɛz.ʁɛ/	pèserait /pɛz.ʁɛ/	pèserions /pɛ.zə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /pe.zə.ʁjɔ̃/	pèseriez /pɛ.zə.ʁje/ or /pe.zə.ʁje/	pèseraient /pɛz.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	pèse /pɛz/	pèses /pɛz/	pèse /pɛz/	pesions /pə.zjɔ̃/	pesiez /pə.zje/	pèsent /pɛz/
	imperfect2	pesasse /pə.zas/	pesasses /pə.zas/	pesât /pə.za/	pesassions /pə.za.sjɔ̃/	pesassiez /pə.za.sje/	pesassent /pə.zas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	pèse /pɛz/	—	pesons /pə.zɔ̃/	pesez /pə.ze/	—
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

• peser dans la balance
• peser le pour et le contre
• peser ses mots
• peser un âne mort

Related terms

• penser
• pèse
• pesant
• peseur
• poids

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• pères, Perse, serpe

Middle French

Alternative forms

• poiser

Etymology

From Old French peser, see below.

Verb

peser

1. (transitive) to weigh (ascertain the weight of)
2. (intransitive) to weigh (have a given weight)

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of peser

infinitive	simple	peser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	pesant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		pesé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	pese	peses	pese	pesons	pesez	pesent
	imperfect	pesois, pesoys	pesois, pesoys	pesoit, pesoyt	pesions, pesyons	pesiez, pesyez	pesoient, pesoyent
	past historic	pesa	pesas	pesa	pesasmes	pesastes	peserent
	future	peserai, peseray	peseras	pesera	peserons	peserez	peseront
	conditional	peserois, peseroys	peserois, peseroys	peseroit, peseroyt	peserions, peseryons	peseriez, peseryez	peseroient, peseroyent
(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	pese	peses	pese	pesons	pesez	pesent
	imperfect	pesasse	pesasses	pesast	pesassions	pesassiez	pesassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	pese	—	pesons	pesez	—
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).

Derived terms

• pesant

Descendants

• French: peser
  • → Farefare: peese

References

• peser on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (peser, supplement)

Old French

Alternative forms

• poiser

Etymology

From Latin pēnsāre. Doublet of penser 'think'.

Verb

peser

1. to weigh (have a certain weight)
2. (figuratively) to be a burden or a worry

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-st are modified to s, st. This verb has a stressed present stem pois distinct from the unstressed stem pes. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		peser			avoir pesé
gerund		en pesant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		pesant
past participle		pesé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	pois	poises	poise	pesons	pesez	poisent
	imperfect	pesoie, peseie, pesoe, peseve	pesoies, peseies, pesoes, peseves	pesoit, peseit, pesot, peseve	pesiiens, pesiens	pesiiez, pesiez	pesoient, peseient, pesoent, pesevent
	preterite	pesai	pesas	pesa	pesames	pesastes	peserent
	future	peserai	peseras	pesera	peserons	peseroiz, pesereiz, peserez	peseront
	conditional	peseroie, pesereie	peseroies, pesereies	peseroit, pesereit	peseriiens, peseriens	peseriiez, peseriez	peseroient, pesereient
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	pois	pois	poist	pesons	pesez	poisent
	imperfect	pesasse	pesasses	pesast	pesissons, pesissiens	pesissoiz, pesissez, pesissiez	pesassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	poise	—	pesons	pesez	—

Related terms

• pesant

Descendants

• → English: peise
• Middle French: peser, poiser
  • French: peser
• Norman: p'ser