tuer

See also: tür and Tür

French

Etymology

From Middle French tuer, from Old French tuer, from Vulgar Latin *tūtō, from Latin tūtor (“to protect, guard, defend”), later taking on the meaning “extinguish, kill” in Vulgar Latin. Compare Occitan tuar and dialectal Piedmontese tuì

Pronunciation

• (France) IPA^(key): /tɥe/, /ty.e/

  • audio

    (file)

• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /t͡sɥe/, /t͡sy.e/
• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃɥe/

Verb

tuer

1. (usually transitive) to kill

   Synonym: (archaic or humorous) occire

   Fumer tue. ― Smoking kills.

   Il les a tués! Il a tué tous!

   He killed them! He killed everyone!

Conjugation

Conjugation of tuer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	tuer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	tuant /tɥɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		tué /tɥe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	tue /ty/	tues /ty/	tue /ty/	tuons /tɥɔ̃/	tuez /tɥe/	tuent /ty/
	imperfect	tuais /tɥɛ/	tuais /tɥɛ/	tuait /tɥɛ/	tuions /ty.jɔ̃/	tuiez /ty.je/	tuaient /tɥɛ/
	past historic2	tuai /tɥe/	tuas /tɥa/	tua /tɥa/	tuâmes /tɥam/	tuâtes /tɥat/	tuèrent /tɥɛʁ/
	future	tuerai /ty.ʁe/	tueras /ty.ʁa/	tuera /ty.ʁa/	tuerons /ty.ʁɔ̃/	tuerez /ty.ʁe/	tueront /ty.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	tuerais /ty.ʁɛ/	tuerais /ty.ʁɛ/	tuerait /ty.ʁɛ/	tuerions /ty.ʁjɔ̃/	tueriez /ty.ʁje/	tueraient /ty.ʁɛ/
(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	tue /ty/	tues /ty/	tue /ty/	tuions /ty.jɔ̃/	tuiez /ty.je/	tuent /ty/
	imperfect2	tuasse /tɥas/	tuasses /tɥas/	tuât /tɥa/	tuassions /tɥa.sjɔ̃/	tuassiez /tɥa.sje/	tuassent /tɥas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	tue /ty/	—	tuons /tɥɔ̃/	tuez /tɥe/	—
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).

Derived terms

• à tue-tête
• de la mort qui tue
• il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué
• papier tue-mouches
• tuer dans l'œuf
• tuer le temps
• tuer une mouche avec un canon
• tuerie
• tueur
• tueuse

 

Further reading

• “tuer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Gallo

Etymology

From Old French tuer, from Vulgar Latin *tutāre, from Latin tūtārī, present active infinitive of tūtor (“protect, guard, defend”).

Verb

tuer

1. to turn off (the light)

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French tuer, from Vulgar Latin *tutāre, from Latin tūtārī, present active infinitive of tūtor (“protect, guard, defend”).

Verb

tuer

1. to kill

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of tuer

infinitive	simple	tuer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	tuant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		tué
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	tue	tues	tue	tuons	tuez	tuent
	imperfect	tuois, tuoys	tuois, tuoys	tuoit, tuoyt	tuions, tuyons	tuiez, tuyez	tuoient, tuoyent
	past historic	tua	tuas	tua	tuasmes	tuastes	tuerent
	future	tuerai, tueray	tueras	tuera	tuerons	tuerez	tueront
	conditional	tuerois, tueroys	tuerois, tueroys	tueroit, tueroyt	tuerions, tueryons	tueriez, tueryez	tueroient, tueroyent
(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	tue	tues	tue	tuons	tuez	tuent
	imperfect	tuasse	tuasses	tuast	tuassions	tuassiez	tuassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	tue	—	tuons	tuez	—
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).

Synonyms

• occire

Descendants

• French: tuer

Norman

Etymology

From Old French tuer, from Vulgar Latin *tutāre (“to extinguish, kill”), from Latin tūtārī, present active infinitive of tūtor (“protect, guard, defend”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Verb

tuer (gerund tueûthie)

1. (Jersey) to kill

Synonyms

• occi

Derived terms

• tueux (“killer”)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

tuer f

1. plural indefinite of tue

Old French

Alternative forms

• teuer, tiwer, tueir, tuuer, tuwer, twer

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *tutāre, from Latin tūtārī, present active infinitive of tūtor (“protect, guard, defend”), later taking on the meaning of "extinguish, kill" in Vulgar Latin. Compare Old Occitan tuar, Old Occitan tudar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tyˈɛr/

Verb

tuer

1. to kill

   Synonyms: macter, ocire

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		tuer			avoir tüé
gerund		en tuant			Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle		tuant
past participle		tüé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	tu	tües	tüe	tuons	tüez	tüent
	imperfect	tuoie, tüeie, tuoe, tüeve	tuoies, tüeies, tuoes, tüeves	tuoit, tüeit, tuot, tüeve	tuïiens, tuïens	tuïiez, tuïez	tuoient, tüeient, tuoent, tüevent
	preterite	tuai	tuas	tua	tuames	tuastes	tüerent
	future	tüerai	tüeras	tüera	tüerons	tüeroiz, tüereiz, tüerez	tüeront
	conditional	tüeroie, tüereie	tüeroies, tüereies	tüeroit, tüereit	tüeriiens, tüeriens	tüeriiez, tüeriez	tüeroient, tüereient
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior	Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	tu	tus	tut	tuons	tüez	tüent
	imperfect	tuasse	tuasses	tuast	tuïssons, tuïssiens	tuïssoiz, tuïssez, tuïssiez	tuassent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	tüe	—	tuons	tüez	—

Descendants

• Gallo: tuer
• Middle French: tuer
  • French: tuer
• Norman: tuer
• Walloon: touwer