desister

See also: désister

English

Etymology

desist +‎ -er.

Noun

desister (plural desisters)

1. A person who desists.

Anagrams

• desirest, diesters, editress, reedists, resisted, sistered

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Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin desistere, present active infinitive of desistō, assimilated into the first group of verbs (regular -er ending).

Verb

desister

1. (almost always reflexive, se desister) to stop; to desist
   • 1581, Guill. Roville, Promptuaire des medalles des plus renommees personnes qui ont esté depuis le commencement du monde: avec brieve description de leurs vies & faits, recueillie des bons auteurs, page 73, line 10

     à fin de le faire desister de la guerre

     in order to make him desist from the war

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of desister

infinitive	simple	desister
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	desistant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		desisté
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	desiste	desistes	desiste	desistons	desistez	desistent
	imperfect	desistois, desistoys	desistois, desistoys	desistoit, desistoyt	desistions, desistyons	desistiez, desistyez	desistoient, desistoyent
	past historic	desista	desistas	desista	desistasmes	desistastes	desisterent
	future	desisterai, desisteray	desisteras	desistera	desisterons	desisterez	desisteront
	conditional	desisterois, desisteroys	desisterois, desisteroys	desisteroit, desisteroyt	desisterions, desisteryons	desisteriez, desisteryez	desisteroient, desisteroyent
(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	desiste	desistes	desiste	desistons	desistez	desistent
	imperfect	desistasse	desistasses	desistast	desistassions	desistassiez	desistassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	desiste	—	desistons	desistez	—
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).

Descendants

• → English: desist
• French: désister