doubter

English

Etymology

From doubt +‎ -er.

Noun

doubter (plural doubters)

1. One who doubts.
   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 275:

     I have a great deal of sympathy with scientific doubters, and with those who test psychicism up hill and down dale and are not satisfied.

Related terms

• no-doubter

Translations

Translations

• Dutch: twijfelaar (nl) m
• French: douteur (fr) m
• German: Zweifler (de) m
• Italian: dubitatore m
• Latin: dubitātor m
• Manx: dooyteilagh m
• Swedish: tvivlare (sv) c

Anagrams

• debtour, obtrude, outbred, redoubt, turboed

French

Verb

doubter

1. Obsolete form of douter.

Conjugation

Conjugation of doubter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	doubter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	doubtant /du.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		doubté /du.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	doubte /dut/	doubtes /dut/	doubte /dut/	doubtons /du.tɔ̃/	doubtez /du.te/	doubtent /dut/
	imperfect	doubtais /du.tɛ/	doubtais /du.tɛ/	doubtait /du.tɛ/	doubtions /du.tjɔ̃/	doubtiez /du.tje/	doubtaient /du.tɛ/
	past historic2	doubtai /du.te/	doubtas /du.ta/	doubta /du.ta/	doubtâmes /du.tam/	doubtâtes /du.tat/	doubtèrent /du.tɛʁ/
	future	doubterai /du.tʁe/	doubteras /du.tʁa/	doubtera /du.tʁa/	doubterons /du.tʁɔ̃/	doubterez /du.tʁe/	doubteront /du.tʁɔ̃/
	conditional	doubterais /du.tʁɛ/	doubterais /du.tʁɛ/	doubterait /du.tʁɛ/	doubterions /du.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	doubteriez /du.tə.ʁje/	doubteraient /du.tʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	doubte /dut/	doubtes /dut/	doubte /dut/	doubtions /du.tjɔ̃/	doubtiez /du.tje/	doubtent /dut/
	imperfect2	doubtasse /du.tas/	doubtasses /du.tas/	doubtât /du.ta/	doubtassions /du.ta.sjɔ̃/	doubtassiez /du.ta.sje/	doubtassent /du.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	doubte /dut/	—	doubtons /du.tɔ̃/	doubtez /du.te/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Middle French

Alternative forms

• douter

Etymology

From Old French douter, with the b added back to reflect the Latin etymology.

Verb

doubter

1. to doubt
2. (reflexive, se doubter de or s'en doubter) to doubt (something)
   • c. 1369, Jean Froissart, Chroniques:

     ils avoient tort se ils s'en doubtoient

     They were wrong if they doubted it

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of doubter

infinitive	simple	doubter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	doubtant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		doubté
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	doubte	doubtes	doubte	doubtons	doubtez	doubtent
	imperfect	doubtois, doubtoys	doubtois, doubtoys	doubtoit, doubtoyt	doubtions, doubtyons	doubtiez, doubtyez	doubtoient, doubtoyent
	past historic	doubta	doubtas	doubta	doubtasmes	doubtastes	doubterent
	future	doubterai, doubteray	doubteras	doubtera	doubterons	doubterez	doubteront
	conditional	doubterois, doubteroys	doubterois, doubteroys	doubteroit, doubteroyt	doubterions, doubteryons	doubteriez, doubteryez	doubteroient, doubteroyent
(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	doubte	doubtes	doubte	doubtons	doubtez	doubtent
	imperfect	doubtasse	doubtasses	doubtast	doubtassions	doubtassiez	doubtassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	doubte	—	doubtons	doubtez	—
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

• French: douter

Old French

Verb

doubter

1. Alternative form of doter

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. 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 doubter (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		doubter			avoir doubté
gerund		en doubtant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		doubtant
past participle		doubté
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	doubte	doubtes	doubte	doubtons	doubtez	doubtent
	imperfect	doubtoie, doubteie, doubtoe, doubteve	doubtoies, doubteies, doubtoes, doubteves	doubtoit, doubteit, doubtot, doubteve	doubtiiens, doubtiens	doubtiiez, doubtiez	doubtoient, doubteient, doubtoent, doubtevent
	preterite	doubtai	doubtas	doubta	doubtames	doubtastes	doubterent
	future	doubterai	doubteras	doubtera	doubterons	doubteroiz, doubtereiz, doubterez	doubteront
	conditional	doubteroie, doubtereie	doubteroies, doubtereies	doubteroit, doubtereit	doubteriiens, doubteriens	doubteriiez, doubteriez	doubteroient, doubtereient
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	doubte	doubtes	doubte	doubtons	doubtez	doubtent
	imperfect	doubtasse	doubtasses	doubtast	doubtissons, doubtissiens	doubtissoiz, doubtissez, doubtissiez	doubtassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	doubte	—	doubtons	doubtez	—