engager

English

Etymology

engage +‎ -er.

Noun

engager (plural engagers)

1. One who, or that which, engages.

   engagers in conflicts

2. One who enters into an engagement or agreement; a surety.
   • 1834, George Godfrey Cunningham, Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen

     Several sufficient citizens were engagers.

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French

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French engagier (“to pawn, make a pledge, plight”), from en- + gage (“pledge”), from Late Latin vadium (“pledge”), from Frankish *wadja (“pledge”), from Proto-Germanic *wadjō, *wadją (“pledge, guarantee”), from Proto-Indo-European *wadh- (“guarantee, bail”). Cognate with Middle Dutch wedde (“property, pay”), Old High German wetti (“collateral, security agreement”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌹 (wadi), 𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌾𐌰 (wadja, “guarantee”), Old English wedd (“pledge, vow”). More at wed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒe/

• audio:

  (file)

Verb

engager

1. to pledge, commit
2. to hire, sign, snap up
3. to involve
4. to encourage
5. to pawn
6. (military) to enlist
7. to enter into (as, e.g., a conversation)

Conjugation

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written engage- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a "soft" /ʒ/ and not a "hard" /ɡ/). This spelling change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

Conjugation of engager (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	engager
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	engageant /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		engagé /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	engage /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ/	engages /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ/	engage /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ/	engageons /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒɔ̃/	engagez /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒe/	engagent /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ/
	imperfect	engageais /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒɛ/	engageais /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒɛ/	engageait /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒɛ/	engagions /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒjɔ̃/	engagiez /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒje/	engageaient /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒɛ/
	past historic2	engageai /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒe/	engageas /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒa/	engagea /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒa/	engageâmes /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒam/	engageâtes /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒat/	engagèrent /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒɛʁ/
	future	engagerai /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.ʁe/	engageras /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.ʁa/	engagera /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.ʁa/	engagerons /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.ʁɔ̃/	engagerez /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.ʁe/	engageront /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	engagerais /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.ʁɛ/	engagerais /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.ʁɛ/	engagerait /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.ʁɛ/	engagerions /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒə.ʁjɔ̃/	engageriez /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒə.ʁje/	engageraient /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ.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	engage /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ/	engages /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ/	engage /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ/	engagions /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒjɔ̃/	engagiez /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒje/	engagent /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ/
	imperfect2	engageasse /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒas/	engageasses /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒas/	engageât /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒa/	engageassions /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒa.sjɔ̃/	engageassiez /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒa.sje/	engageassent /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	engage /ɑ̃.ɡaʒ/	—	engageons /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒɔ̃/	engagez /ɑ̃.ɡa.ʒe/	—
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

• engagement
• engagiste

Descendants

• → Italian: ingaggiare
• → Portuguese: engajar
• → Romanian: angaja
• → Turkish: angaje

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• regagne, regagné

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Old French

Verb

engager

1. Alternative form of engagier

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. In the present tense an extra supporting e is needed in the first-person singular indicative and throughout the singular subjunctive, and the third-person singular subjunctive ending -t is lost. In addition, g becomes j before an a or an o to keep the /dʒ/ sound intact. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		engager			avoir engagé
gerund		en engajant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		engajant
past participle		engagé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	engage	engages	engage	engajons	engagez	engagent
	imperfect	engajoie, engageie, engajoe, engageve	engajoies, engageies, engajoes, engageves	engajoit, engageit, engajot, engageve	engagiiens, engagiens	engagiiez, engagiez	engajoient, engageient, engajoent, engagevent
	preterite	engajai	engajas	engaja	engajames	engajastes	engagerent
	future	engagerai	engageras	engagera	engagerons	engageroiz, engagereiz, engagerez	engageront
	conditional	engageroie, engagereie	engageroies, engagereies	engageroit, engagereit	engageriiens, engageriens	engageriiez, engageriez	engageroient, engagereient
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	engage	engages	engage	engajons	engagez	engagent
	imperfect	engajasse	engajasses	engajast	engagissons, engagissiens	engagissoiz, engagissez, engagissiez	engajassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	engage	—	engajons	engagez	—