déjà vu

See also: dejavu, dejavú, deja vu, déjà-vu, and Déjà-vu

English

Alternative forms

• deja vu

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French déjà vu.

Pronunciation

• enPR: dā'-zhä-vo͞oʹ, IPA^(key): /ˌdeɪ.ʒɑː ˈvuː/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

déjà vu (usually uncountable, plural déjà vus)

1. The subjective, unexpected feeling of having experienced something before, especially when that is not the case.
   • 1996, José Argüelles, “The Secret Time Sharers and the Discovery of the Pulsar Code”, in The Arcturus Probe: Tales and Reports of an Ongoing Investigation, Flagstaff, Ariz.: Light Technology Publishing, →ISBN, part one (Launching the Probe), page 11:

     Why did some déjà vus pattern or pulse at certain peak moments and not others?

   • 2005, Lynn Kurland, chapter 27, in Dreams of Stardust, New York, N.Y.: Jove Books, →ISBN, page 271:

     He had to get back. Soon. All these déjà vus were killing him.

   • 2008, Francine Prose, chapter 4, in Goldengrove: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: HarperLuxe, →ISBN, page 83:

     A few times she mentioned that she’d been having constant déjà vus. She hoped it wasn’t a symptom of a tumor or early-onset dementia.

2. Loosely or humorously, anything one has done before or is being repeated.

   Have I done this before? Talk about déjà vu.

Synonyms

• promnesia

Related terms

• jamais vu
• presque vu
• déjà vu all over again

Translations

something which one has or suspects to have seen or experienced before

• Arabic: دِيجَا ڤُو (deja vū)

  Hijazi Arabic: ديجافو m (dējāfū, dējāvū)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 既視感／既视感 (zh) (jìshìgǎn), 似曾相識／似曾相识 (zh) (sìcéngxiāngshí)

• Danish: deja-vu (da)
• Dutch: déjà vu (nl)
• Esperanto: deĵavuo
• Finnish: déjà-vu (fi), entiselämys (fi)
• French: déjà-vu (fr)
• Galician: xa visto
• German: Déjà-vu-Erlebnis (de) n
• Greek: προμνησία (el) (promnisía), ντεζά βυ (el) (ntezá vy)
• Hebrew: דז'ה וו (he) (deja vu)
• Icelandic: déjà vu
• Japanese: 既視感 (きしかん, kishikan), デジャヴュ (dejavyu), デジャヴ (dejavu), デジャブ (dejabu), デジャビュ (dejabyu)
• Korean: 데자뷔 (dejabwi), 기시감(旣視感) (gisigam)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: déjà vu (no)

  Nynorsk: déjà vu

• Occitan: dejà vist m
• Persian: دژاوو (dežâvu)
• Polish: déjà vu (pl) n
• Portuguese: déjà vu (pt) m
• Russian: дежавю́ (ru) n (dežavjú)
• Spanish: déjà vu (es) m
• Swedish: déjà vu (sv), deja vu (sv)
• Turkish: dejavu (tr), dejavü

Verb

déjà vu (third-person singular simple present déjà vues, present participle déjà vuing, simple past and past participle déjà vued)

1. (colloquial, intransitive) To experience déjà vu; to see (something) as though having seen it before.
   • 2008, Darren Lamere, Eerily Familiar:

     Still deja vuing, I said, “Jinx. You owe me a Coke.”

   • 2011, Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Tenth Anniversary Edition), William Morrow 2011, p. 139:

     Trees looked familiar, moments of landscape were perfectly déjà-vued.

Dutch

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French déjà vu.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

déjà vu n (plural déjà vu's)

1. déjà vu

Further reading

• déjà vu on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.ʒa vy/

• Audio (France)

  (file)

Noun

déjà vu m (plural déjà vu)

1. Alternative form of déjà-vu

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• deja vu (alternative spelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from French déjà vu, from déjà (“already”), + vu (“seen”), past participle of voir (“to see”).

Noun

déjà vu n

1. déjà vu

References

• vu “déjà vu” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• deja vu (alternative spelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from French déjà vu, from déjà (“already”), + vu (“seen”), past participle of voir (“to see”).

Noun

déjà vu n

1. déjà vu

References

• vu “déjà vu” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Alternative forms

• deja vu

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French déjà-vu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛ.ʐaˈvi/
• Rhymes: -avi

Noun

déjà vu n (indeclinable)

1. déjà vu (something which one has or suspects to have seen or experienced before)

Further reading

• déjà vu in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• déjà vu in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French déjà vu.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.ʒaˈvu/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɛ.ʒaˈvu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɛ.ʒaˈvu/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɛ.ʒaˈbu/ [dɛ.ʒaˈβu]

Noun

déjà vu m (uncountable)

1. déjà vu (something which one has or suspects to have seen or experienced before)

Swedish

Alternative forms

• deja vu

Noun

déjà vu c

1. déjà vu

   ha/få (en) déjà vu(-upplevelse)

   have/get (a) déjà vu (experience)

Usage notes

Uninflected.

References

• déjà vu in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• déjà vu in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)