importuner

English

Etymology

importune +‎ -er

Noun

importuner (plural importuners)

1. One who importunes.
   • 1605, Sir Edwin Sandys, Europae Speculum [A Relation of the State of Religion in Europe], in Mary Ellen Henley, Sir Edwin Sandy's Europae Speculum: a Critical Edition (2001)

     abrogators and dispensers against the Lawes of God, but tyrannous importuners and Exactors of theyr owne

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

importuner

1. to importune, to annoy

   Synonyms: agacer, casser les pieds, embêter, énerver, ennuyer, enquiquiner, emmerder, faire chier

   Ah, ils m’enquiquinent, sortir du bain pour les Petites Sœurs des Pauvres ou quoi ? (Louis Aragon, Théâtre, Gallimard, 1974, p. 261) (importuner is not used in the example given!?)

Conjugation

Conjugation of importuner (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	importuner
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	importunant /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		importuné /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.ne/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	importune /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn/	importunes /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn/	importune /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn/	importunons /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nɔ̃/	importunez /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.ne/	importunent /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn/
	imperfect	importunais /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nɛ/	importunais /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nɛ/	importunait /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nɛ/	importunions /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.njɔ̃/	importuniez /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nje/	importunaient /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nɛ/
	past historic2	importunai /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.ne/	importunas /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.na/	importuna /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.na/	importunâmes /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nam/	importunâtes /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nat/	importunèrent /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nɛʁ/
	future	importunerai /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.ʁe/	importuneras /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.ʁa/	importunera /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.ʁa/	importunerons /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.ʁɔ̃/	importunerez /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.ʁe/	importuneront /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	importunerais /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.ʁɛ/	importunerais /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.ʁɛ/	importunerait /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.ʁɛ/	importunerions /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nə.ʁjɔ̃/	importuneriez /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nə.ʁje/	importuneraient /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn.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	importune /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn/	importunes /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn/	importune /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn/	importunions /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.njɔ̃/	importuniez /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nje/	importunent /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn/
	imperfect2	importunasse /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nas/	importunasses /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nas/	importunât /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.na/	importunassions /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.na.sjɔ̃/	importunassiez /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.na.sje/	importunassent /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	importune /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.tyn/	—	importunons /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.nɔ̃/	importunez /ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ty.ne/	—
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).

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• interrompu

Middle French

Verb

importuner

1. to bother

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of importuner

infinitive	simple	importuner
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	importunant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		importuné
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	importune	importunes	importune	importunons	importunez	importunent
	imperfect	importunois, importunoys	importunois, importunoys	importunoit, importunoyt	importunions, importunyons	importuniez, importunyez	importunoient, importunoyent
	past historic	importuna	importunas	importuna	importunasmes	importunastes	importunerent
	future	importunerai, importuneray	importuneras	importunera	importunerons	importunerez	importuneront
	conditional	importunerois, importuneroys	importunerois, importuneroys	importuneroit, importuneroyt	importunerions, importuneryons	importuneriez, importuneryez	importuneroient, importuneroyent
(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	importune	importunes	importune	importunons	importunez	importunent
	imperfect	importunasse	importunasses	importunast	importunassions	importunassiez	importunassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	importune	—	importunons	importunez	—
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).