déjà vu

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

English

Alternative forms

• deja vu

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: dā"zhä vo͞o'
• IPA^(key): /ˌdeɪ.ʒɑː ˈvuː/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

déjà vu (uncountable)

1. The subjective, unexpected feeling of having experienced something before, especially when that is not the case.
2. Loosely or humorously, anything one has done before or is being repeated.

   Have I done this before? Talk about déjà vu.

Translations

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

• Arabic: دِيجَا ڤُو (deja vū)

  Hijazi Arabic: ديجافو m (dējāfū, dējāvū), ديجاڤو m (dējāvū)

• Chinese:

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

• Danish: deja-vu (da)
• Dutch: déjà vu (nl)
• Finnish: déjà-vu
• French: déjà-vu (fr)
• Galician: xa visto
• German: Déjà-vu-Erlebnis n
• Greek: προμνησία (el) (promnisía), ντεζά βυ (el) (ntezá vy)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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: 데자부 (dejabu), 기시감 (gisigam) (旣視感)
• Persian: دژاوو (dežavu)
• Polish: déjà vu
• Portuguese: déjà vu (pt) m
• Russian: дежавю́ (ru) n (dežavjú)
• Spanish: déjà vu m
• Swedish: déjà 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.

Related terms

• jamais vu
• presque vu

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.ʒa vy/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

Noun

déjà vu m (plural déjà vu)

1. Alternative form of déjà-vu

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Norwegian

Etymology

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

Noun

déjà vu

1. déjà vu

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• deja vu, dejavu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deʒa vu/, /deʒa vi/

Noun

déjà vu m (plural s)

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