devoir

English

WOTD – 2 July 2016

Etymology

From Middle English devoir, borrowed from Middle French devoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre (“to owe; ought, must”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dəˈvwɑː/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː
• Hyphenation: de‧voir

Noun

devoir (plural devoirs)

1. (archaic, often in plural) Duty, business; something that one must do.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 149:

     […] he imprint not so much in his schollers mind […] where Marcellus died, as because he was unworthy of his devoire he died there […].

   • 1787, “A female” [pseudonym; Winifred Marshall Gales], The History of Lady Emma Melcombe, and Her Family. By a Female. In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Printed for G. G. J. and J. Robinson, →OCLC, page 155:

     I should have long ere this paid my devoirs to the inhabitants of Raymond Castle.

   • 1836 July, “London Fashionable Chit-Chat”, in The Lady's Magazine and Museum of the Belles-lettres, Fine Arts, Music, Drama, Fashions, &c. (Improved Series. Enlarged.), volume IX, London: Dobbs & Co., Hemlock Court, Carey Street, Lincolns Inn (Formerly at 112, Fetter Lane), →OCLC, page 73:

     [M]y eyes were oft times [on the] charmante maitresse de la maison, who glided among her guests in her flowing Spanish mantilla, and train of the clearest blonde, doing her devoirs with winning kindness, and showing how much benevolence of manner adds to beauty.

   • 1873 March, H[enry] James Jr., “The Madonna of the Future”, in The Atlantic Monthly: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, volume XXXI, number CLXXXV, Boston, Mass.: James R. Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood & Co., page 277:

     A young man who arrives at Florence late in the evening, and, instead of going prosaically to bed, or hanging over the travellers' book at his hotel, walks forth without loss of time to pay his devoirs to the Beautiful, is a young man after my own heart!

   • 1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Benares [false, actually Stoke Newington, London]: Kamashastra Society, →OCLC:

     Then quoth the portress to the mistress of the house, "O my lady, arise and go to thy place that I in turn may do my devoir."

   • 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian, or Ruling Passions (The Avignon Quintet; 4), London; Boston, Mass.: Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0-571-13111-2; republished in The Avignon Quintet, London: Faber & Faber, 2004, ISBN 978-0-571-22555-2, page 1057:

     That is the little bit of essential information which enables us to complete our devoir – without it we are just ordinary people, dispossessed, taken unawares: the original sin!

Anagrams

• voider

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French debvoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin dēbēre (to owe; ought, must).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /də.vwaʁ/, (informal) /dvwaʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -waʁ

Noun

devoir m (plural devoirs)

1. duty

   manquer à son devoir, manquer à tous ses devoirs ― to fail in one's duty, duties

   Il est de mon devoir de protéger le roi. ― It is my duty to protect the king.

2. exercise, assignment (set for homework)

Derived terms

• devoir de mémoire
• devoir sur table
• devoir surveillé
• devoir une fière chandelle
• le devoir m’appelle
• sentiment du devoir accompli

Verb

devoir

1. must, to have to, should (as a requirement)

   Les auteurs d’un dictionnaire doivent déterminer au départ les catégories de mots à retenir, en fonction des limites imposées par l’éditeur et du public visé.

   The authors of a dictionary have to determine from the outset which categories of words to retain, according to the limits imposed by the editor, and the target audience.

   • 2014, Jean-Claude Bernardon, Résolution de conflits:

     Votre langage doit vous permettre de maintenir une bonne distance de sécurité, être un peu plus poli et détaché que nécessaire est un avantage.

     Your language should permit you to keep a fairly secure distance, [as] being slightly more formal and detached than necessary is an advantage.

   1. (present) must
   2. (conditional) should
2. must, to do or have with certainty
3. (transitive) to owe (money, obligation and etc)
4. (literary, intransitive, in imperfect subjunctive, with inversion of subject) (even) if it is necessary (+ infinitive)
   • 1842, George Sand, Consuelo:

     Eh bien, se dit-elle, j’irai, dussé-je affronter les dangers réels [...].

     Well, she said to herself, I'll go, even if I have to face real danger.

5. (reflexive, ~ de) to have a duty to
   • 1791, Louis XVI, “Message du roi, à l'Assemblée nationale, le 13 septembre 1791”, in Constitution française, présentée au roi par l'Assemblée nationale, le 3 septembre 1791, Dijon: Imprimerie de P. Causse, page 75:

     Aujourd’hui je dois aux intérêts de la nation, je me dois à moi-même de faire connoître mes motifs.

     Today, I owe to the interests of the nation, [so] I owe it to myself to make my motives known.

Usage notes

• The circumflex accent applied to the u in the past participle dû serves only to distinguish it from the prepositive du (“of the”). As such, the circumflex is omitted in the participle's other inflections: due f sg, dus m pl, dues f pl. The diacritic is likewise omitted in the derived adjective indu (“undue, unwarranted”) and its inflected forms, but retained in the adverbial derivative dûment and indûment, where it serves as an etymological marker signaling the elision of the letter e from the older spelling duement. These latter, however, may be rendered dument and indument according to the orthographic reforms advanced by the Conseil supérieur de la langue française and approved by the Académie française in 1990.
• In negative constructions (e.g. ne pas devoir and ne plus devoir), the sense becomes "must not," "should not", etc.

  Je dois y aller. ― I must go. / I have to go.

  Je ne dois pas y aller. ― I must not go.

  Ne devriez-vous pas vous en aller ? ― Shouldn't you go away?

  Ça ne devrait plus vous poser de problèmes.

  That should no longer pose any problems.

Conjugation

Conjugation of devoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	devoir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	devant /də.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		dû /dy/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	dois /dwa/	dois /dwa/	doit /dwa/	devons /də.vɔ̃/	devez /də.ve/	doivent /dwav/
	imperfect	devais /də.vɛ/	devais /də.vɛ/	devait /də.vɛ/	devions /də.vjɔ̃/	deviez /də.vje/	devaient /də.vɛ/
	past historic2	dus /dy/	dus /dy/	dut /dy/	dûmes /dym/	dûtes /dyt/	durent /dyʁ/
	future	devrai /də.vʁe/	devras /də.vʁa/	devra /də.vʁa/	devrons /də.vʁɔ̃/	devrez /də.vʁe/	devront /də.vʁɔ̃/
	conditional	devrais /də.vʁɛ/	devrais /də.vʁɛ/	devrait /də.vʁɛ/	devrions /də.vʁi.jɔ̃/	devriez /də.vʁi.je/	devraient /də.vʁɛ/
(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	doive /dwav/	doives /dwav/	doive /dwav/	devions /də.vjɔ̃/	deviez /də.vje/	doivent /dwav/
	imperfect2	dusse /dys/	dusses /dys/	dût /dy/	dussions /dy.sjɔ̃/	dussiez /dy.sje/	dussent /dys/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	dois /dwa/	—	devons /də.vɔ̃/	devez /də.ve/	—
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).

Conjugation of se devoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	se devoir
	compound	s'être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	se devant /sə də.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle		dû /dy/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	me dois /mə dwa/	te dois /tə dwa/	se doit /sə dwa/	nous devons /nu də.vɔ̃/	vous devez /vu də.ve/	se doivent /sə dwav/
	imperfect	me devais /mə də.vɛ/	te devais /tə də.vɛ/	se devait /sə də.vɛ/	nous devions /nu də.vjɔ̃/	vous deviez /vu də.vje/	se devaient /sə də.vɛ/
	past historic2	me dus /mə dy/	te dus /tə dy/	se dut /sə dy/	nous dûmes /nu dym/	vous dûtes /vu dyt/	se durent /sə dyʁ/
	future	me devrai /mə də.vʁe/	te devras /tə də.vʁa/	se devra /sə də.vʁa/	nous devrons /nu də.vʁɔ̃/	vous devrez /vu də.vʁe/	se devront /sə də.vʁɔ̃/
	conditional	me devrais /mə də.vʁɛ/	te devrais /tə də.vʁɛ/	se devrait /sə də.vʁɛ/	nous devrions /nu də.vʁi.jɔ̃/	vous devriez /vu də.vʁi.je/	se devraient /sə də.vʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of s'être + past participle
	future perfect	future of s'être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of s'être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	me doive /mə dwav/	te doives /tə dwav/	se doive /sə dwav/	nous devions /nu də.vjɔ̃/	vous deviez /vu də.vje/	se doivent /sə dwav/
	imperfect2	me dusse /mə dys/	te dusses /tə dys/	se dût /sə dy/	nous dussions /nu dy.sjɔ̃/	vous dussiez /vu dy.sje/	se dussent /sə dys/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	dois-toi /dwa.twa/	—	devons-nous /də.vɔ̃.nu/	devez-vous /də.ve.vu/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	simple imperative of s'être + 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

• (dû)
  • indu
  • dûment
    • indûment
• redevoir

• chose promise, chose due
• comme il se doit
• en bonne et due forme

Related terms

• redevable

See also

• falloir
• obliger

Further reading

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

Middle English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French devoir, from Old French devoir, deveir, from Latin dēbēre (“to owe, to be duty bound to do something”).

Noun

devoir (plural devoirs)

1. devoir
   • 1479, William Caxton, De Consolatione Philosophiæ, translated into English by Geoffrey Chaucer:

     I William Caxton have done my devoir to enprint it

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: devoir

Old French

Alternative forms

• deveir (archaic or regional)
• deoir (verb)

Etymology

From Latin dēbēre.

Pronunciation

• (archaic) IPA^(key): /dəˈvei̯ɾ/
• (classical) IPA^(key): /dəˈvoi̯ɾ/, (northern) /dəˈvei̯ɾ/
• (late) IPA^(key): /dəˈvo̯ɛɾ/, (northern) /dəˈveɾ/

Verb

devoir

1. (modal) to have to; must
2. to owe

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem doiv distinct from the unstressed stem dev, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		devoir			avoir deu
gerund		en devant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		devant
past participle		deu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	doi	dois	doit	devons	devez	doivent
	imperfect	devoie, deveie	devoies, deveies	devoit, deveit	deviiens, deviens	deviiez, deviez	devoient, deveient
	preterite	dui	deüs	dut	deümes	deüstes	durent
	future	devrai	devras	devra	devrons	devroiz, devreiz, devrez	devront
	conditional	devroie, devreie	devroies, devreies	devroit, devreit	devriiens, devriens	devriiez, devriez	devroient, devreient
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	doie, doive	doies, doives	doie, doive	doiiens, doions, devons	doiiez, devez	doient, doivent
	imperfect	deüsse	deüsses	deüst	deüssons, deüssiens	deüssoiz, deüssez, deüssiez	deüssent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	—	—	—	—	—

• The trema on the u of the past participle deü is not used by all authors.
• The feminine forms of the past participle are more commonly spelled due and dues, though deue and deues are attested.

Noun

devoir oblique singular, m (oblique plural devoirs, nominative singular devoirs, nominative plural devoir)

1. debt

Descendants

• Angevin: devair
• Gallo: devair
• Lorrain: devor
• Middle French: debvoir (see there for further descendants)
• Norman: deveir
• Picard: dvoér
• Walloon: diveur

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (devoir)
• “Appendix E: Irregular Verbs” in E. Einhorn (1974), Old French: A Concise Handbook, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 152–153