affliger

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French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin afflīgere.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /a.fli.ʒe/
  • (file)

Verb[edit]

affliger

  1. (transitive) to grieve someone, to distress someone
    • 1640, Pierre Corneille, Horace, act I, scene I:
      Je crains pour l’une et l’autre en ce dernier effort / Et serai du parti qu’affligera le Sort.
      I fear for both in this final struggle / and shall be on the side that Destiny makes grieved.
  2. (literary) to smite [+ de (object) = with]

Conjugation[edit]

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written afflige- 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.

References[edit]