devoir

See also devoirs

English

Etymology

From Old French deveir (French devoir), from Latin debere (“to owe”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dəˈvwɑː/

Noun

devoir (plural devoirs)

1. (archaic) Duty, business; something which one must do.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, vol. 1 p. 149:

     he imprint not so much in his schollers mind [...] where Marcellus died, as because he was unworthy of his devoire he died there [...].

   • '"1787"', 'The History of Lady Emma Melcombe and her family' a novel by Winifred Marshall Gales, vol. 3. p. 155:

     I should have long ere this paid my devoirs to the inhabitants of Raymond Castle.

   • 1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol. 1:

     Then quoth the portress to the mistress of the house, "O my lady, arise and go to thy place that I in turn may do my devoir."

Anagrams

• voider

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French

Etymology

Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre (“must”), present active infinitive of dēbeō.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /dəvwaʁ/, SAMPA: /d@.vwaR/

Noun

devoir m. (plural devoirs)

1. duty
2. exercise (set for homework)

Verb

devoir

1. (intransitive) must, to have to
2. (literary, intransitive) (in imperfect subjunctive, with inversion of subject) (even) though it be necessary (+ infinitive)
   • 1842, George Sand, Consuelo:

     Eh bien, se dit-elle, j'irai, dussé-je affronter les dangers réels [...]. ⇒ Well, she said to herself, I'll go, even if I have to face real danger.

Conjugation

   Conjugation of devoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		devoir			avoir dû
gerund		en devant			en ayant dû
present participle		devant
past participle		dû
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
simple tenses	present	dois	dois	doit	devons	devez	doivent
	imperfect	devais	devais	devait	devions	deviez	devaient
	past historic1	dus	dus	dut	dûmes	dûtes	durent
	future	devrai	devras	devra	devrons	devrez	devront
	conditional	devrais	devrais	devrait	devrions	devriez	devraient
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior1	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il	que nous	que vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	doive	doives	doive	devions	deviez	doivent
	imperfect1	dusse	dusses	dût	dussions	dussiez	dussent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect1	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	dois	—	devons	devez	—
1literary tenses

• The past participle drops the circumflex accent in its other forms: feminine singular due; masculine plural dus; feminine plural dues.

See also

• falloir

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Old French

Alternative forms

• deveir
• deoir v

Etymology

From Latin debere (“to owe”).

Verb

devoir

1. to have to; must
2. to owe

Noun

devoir m. (oblique plural devoirs, nominative singular devoirs, nominative plural devoir)

1. debt

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881)