noircir

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *nigricīre, from Latin nigrēscere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nwaʁ.siʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

noircir

1. to blacken (make black)
2. (reflexive) to get drunk
   • 1926, Marcel Aymé, Brûlebois, Éditions Gallimard, chap. III, 1975 ed., p. 33

     — Mais enfin, disait-il, pourquoi que tu te noircis comme ça? / — Sûrement que j’ai pas raison, répondait l’autre, quoique, dans un sens, ça soit pas mauvais de boire.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.

Conjugation of noircir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	noircir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	noircissant /nwaʁ.si.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		noirci /nwaʁ.si/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	noircis /nwaʁ.si/	noircis /nwaʁ.si/	noircit /nwaʁ.si/	noircissons /nwaʁ.si.sɔ̃/	noircissez /nwaʁ.si.se/	noircissent /nwaʁ.sis/
	imperfect	noircissais /nwaʁ.si.sɛ/	noircissais /nwaʁ.si.sɛ/	noircissait /nwaʁ.si.sɛ/	noircissions /nwaʁ.si.sjɔ̃/	noircissiez /nwaʁ.si.sje/	noircissaient /nwaʁ.si.sɛ/
	past historic2	noircis /nwaʁ.si/	noircis /nwaʁ.si/	noircit /nwaʁ.si/	noircîmes /nwaʁ.sim/	noircîtes /nwaʁ.sit/	noircirent /nwaʁ.siʁ/
	future	noircirai /nwaʁ.si.ʁe/	noirciras /nwaʁ.si.ʁa/	noircira /nwaʁ.si.ʁa/	noircirons /nwaʁ.si.ʁɔ̃/	noircirez /nwaʁ.si.ʁe/	noirciront /nwaʁ.si.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	noircirais /nwaʁ.si.ʁɛ/	noircirais /nwaʁ.si.ʁɛ/	noircirait /nwaʁ.si.ʁɛ/	noircirions /nwaʁ.si.ʁjɔ̃/	noirciriez /nwaʁ.si.ʁje/	noirciraient /nwaʁ.si.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	noircisse /nwaʁ.sis/	noircisses /nwaʁ.sis/	noircisse /nwaʁ.sis/	noircissions /nwaʁ.si.sjɔ̃/	noircissiez /nwaʁ.si.sje/	noircissent /nwaʁ.sis/
	imperfect2	noircisse /nwaʁ.sis/	noircisses /nwaʁ.sis/	noircît /nwaʁ.si/	noircissions /nwaʁ.si.sjɔ̃/	noircissiez /nwaʁ.si.sje/	noircissent /nwaʁ.sis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	noircis /nwaʁ.si/	—	noircissons /nwaʁ.si.sɔ̃/	noircissez /nwaʁ.si.se/	—
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).

Synonyms

• [2] (get drunk): See s’enivrer

Derived terms

• noircir le tableau, noircissement, noircissure

Related terms

• [1,2]: noir

References

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

Further reading

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

Old French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *nigricīre, from Latin nigrēscō, nigrēscere. Compare Old Occitan negrezir.

Verb

noircir

1. to blacken (become black)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a second-group verb (ending in -ir, with an -iss- infix). Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		noircir			avoir noirci
gerund		en noircissant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		noircissant
past participle		noirci
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	noircis	noircis	noircist	noircissons	noircissez	noircissent
	imperfect	noircissoie, noircisseie	noircissoies, noircisseies	noircissoit, noircisseit	noircissiiens, noircissiens	noircissiiez, noircissiez	noircissoient, noircisseient
	preterite	noirci	noircis	noirci	noircimes	noircistes	noircirent
	future	noircirai	noirciras	noircira	noircirons	noirciroiz, noircireiz, noircirez	noirciront
	conditional	noirciroie, noircireie	noirciroies, noircireies	noirciroit, noircireit	noirciriiens, noirciriens	noirciriiez, noirciriez	noirciroient, noircireient
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	noircisse	noircisses	noircisse	noircissons	noircissez	noircissent
	imperfect	noircisse	noircisses	noircist	noircissons, noircissiens	noircissoiz, noircissez, noircissiez	noircissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	noircis	—	noircissons	noircissez	—

Descendants

• French: noircir