flatter
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
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Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -ætə(r)
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English flatteren, flateren (“to flutter, float, fawn over”), probably a conflation of Old English floterian (“to flutter, float, be disquieted”), from Proto-Germanic *flutrōnan (“to be floating”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleud-, *plew-, *plōw- (“to flow, swim”); and Old Norse flaðra (“to fawn on someone, flatter”), from Proto-Germanic *flaþrōnan (“to fawn over, flutter”), from Proto-Indo-European *peled- (“moisture, wetness”), *pel- (“to gush, pour out, fill, flow, swim, fly”). Cognate with Middle Dutch flatteren (“to embellish, flatter, caress”), German flattern (“to flutter”). The Middle English word may have been reinforced in meaning by unrelated Old French flatter (“to stroke, caress, flatter”), a word of Germanic origin, from Frankish *flat (“palm, flat of the hand”). More at flat.
[edit] Adjective
flatter (comparative)
- comparative form of flat: more flat
[edit] Noun
flatter (plural flatters)
- A type of set tool used by blacksmiths.
- Someone who flattens, purposely or accidently. Also flattener.
[edit] Translations
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[edit] Verb
flatter (third-person singular simple present flatters, present participle flattering, simple past and past participle flattered) (transitive and intransitive)
- To compliment someone, often insincerely and sometimes to win favour
- To enhance someone's vanity by praising them
- To portray something to advantage.
- To convey notions of the facts that are believed to be favorable to the hearer without certainty of the truthfulness of the notions conveyed.
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
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[edit] French
[edit] Etymology
From Middle French flatter (“to flatter, to caress with the flat of the hand”), from Old French flater (“to deceive by concealing the truth, to stroke with the palm of the hand”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *flat (“palm, flat of the hand”), from Proto-Germanic *flatan, *flatō (“palm, sole”), *flataz (“flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *plÁt-, *pele-, *plet-, *plāk- (“flat, broad, plain”). Cognate with Old High German flazza (“palm, flat of the hand”), Old High German flaz (“level, flat”), Old Saxon flat (“flat”), Old Norse flatr (“flat”) (whence English flat), Old Frisian flet, flette (“dwelling, house”), Old English flet, flett (“ground floor, dwelling”). More at flat, flétrir.
[edit] Pronunciation
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Audio (file)
[edit] Verb
flatter
- to flatter
[edit] Conjugation
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | flatter | avoir flatté | |||||
| gerund | en flattant | en ayant flatté | |||||
| present participle | flattant | ||||||
| past participle | flatté | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | flatte | flattes | flatte | flattons | flattez | flattent |
| imperfect | flattais | flattais | flattait | flattions | flattiez | flattaient | |
| past historic1 | flattai | flattas | flatta | flattâmes | flattâtes | flattèrent | |
| future | flatterai | flatteras | flattera | flatterons | flatterez | flatteront | |
| conditional | flatterais | flatterais | flatterait | flatterions | flatteriez | flatteraient | |
| 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 | flatte | flattes | flatte | flattions | flattiez | flattent |
| imperfect1 | flattasse | flattasses | flattât | flattassions | flattassiez | flattassent | |
| 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 | – | |
| — | flatte | — | flattons | flattez | — | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
[edit] Derived terms
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English terms derived from Germanic languages
- English adjective comparative forms
- English nouns
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms derived from Germanic languages
- French terms derived from Frankish
- French terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- French verbs
- French first group verbs