cerchier

Middle French

Verb

cerchier

1. (uncommon) Alternative form of chercher

Conjugation

• As parler except the additional i in the infinitive does not appear in many forms.
• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of cerchier

infinitive	simple	cerchier
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	cerchant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		cerchié
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	cerche	cerches	cerche	cerchions	cerchiez	cerchent
	imperfect	cerchois, cerchoys	cerchois, cerchoys	cerchoit, cerchoyt	cerchions, cerchyons	cerchiez, cerchyez	cerchoient, cerchoyent
	past historic	cercha	cerchas	cercha	cerchasmes	cerchastes	cerchierent
	future	cerchierai, cerchieray	cerchieras	cerchiera	cerchierons	cerchierez	cerchieront
	conditional	cerchierois, cerchieroys	cerchierois, cerchieroys	cerchieroit, cerchieroyt	cerchierions, cerchieryons	cerchieriez, cerchieryez	cerchieroient, cerchieroyent
(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	cerche	cerches	cerche	cerchions	cerchiez	cerchent
	imperfect	cerchasse	cerchasses	cerchast	cerchassions	cerchassiez	cerchassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	cerche	—	cerchions	cerchiez	—
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).

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Old French

Alternative forms

• cercher
• cercier
• cercer
• sercher

Etymology

From Late Latin circāre, present active infinitive of circō, from Latin circa, circus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtser.tʃjer/

Verb

cerchier

1. to search; to seek; to look for

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -ier, with a palatal stem. These verbs are conjugated mostly like verbs in -er, but there is an extra i before the e of some endings. 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. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		cerchier			avoir cerchié
gerund		en cerchant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		cerchant
past participle		cerchié
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	cerche	cerches	cerche	cerchons	cerchiez	cerchent
	imperfect	cerchoie, cercheie, cerchoe, cerchieve	cerchoies, cercheies, cerchoes, cerchieves	cerchoit, cercheit, cerchot, cerchieve	cerchiiens, cerchiens	cerchiiez, cerchiez	cerchoient, cercheient, cerchoent, cerchievent
	preterite	cerchai	cerchas	cercha	cerchames	cerchastes	cerchierent
	future	cercherai	cercheras	cerchera	cercherons	cercheroiz, cerchereiz, cercherez	cercheront
	conditional	cercheroie, cerchereie	cercheroies, cerchereies	cercheroit, cerchereit	cercheriiens, cercheriens	cercheriiez, cercheriez	cercheroient, cerchereient
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	cerche	cerches	cerche	cerchons	cerchiez	cerchent
	imperfect	cerchasse	cerchasses	cerchast	cerchissons, cerchissiens	cerchissoiz, cerchissez, cerchissiez	cerchassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	cerche	—	cerchons	cerchiez	—

Descendants

• → Middle English: serchen
  • English: search
  • Scots: sairch
• Middle French: chercher, cercher
  • French: chercher