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enterrer

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: entèrrer

French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French enterrer, from Old French enterrer, from Vulgar Latin *interrāre (“to put into earth”), from Latin terra. Equivalent to en- (“into”) +‎ terre (“earth”) +‎ -er (infinitive marker). Cognate with English inter.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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enterrer

  1. to bury (put underground); to inter
    • 2010, Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French as Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities, page 252:
      Là, un jour, Geneviève est morte. Et ils ont parti l’enterrer.
      Then one day, Geneviève died. And they left to bury her.
  2. to ditch, to bury (a plan, a memory, a legislative proposal, etc.)
  3. (by extension, figurative, familiar) to outlive, to survive (someone)
    • 2025 November 5, Projet Voltaire, “Égrotant, cacochyme, valétudinaire”, in YouTube‎[1], retrieved 14 November 2025:
      [Voltaire] les a tous enterrés en mourant à l'âge de... 83 ans.
      [Voltaire] outlived them all by dying at the age of... 83.
  4. (figurative) to hide
    enterrer son secret
    to hide one's secret
    L’avare enterre ses trésors au lieu d’en jouir.
    The miser hides his treasures instead of enjoying them.
  5. (figurative, familiar) to enjoy something before it is gone
    enterrer sa vie de garçon
    to celebrate one's stag/bachelor party
    (literally, “to bury one's boy's life”)
  6. (pronominal, figurative) to seclude oneself, to withdraw from the world to live in a remote location
  7. (pronominal, equestrianism) (of a horse) to carry the head very low

Conjugation

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Conjugation of enterrer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple enterrer
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple enterrant
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɑ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle enterré
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁe/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present enterre
/ɑ̃.tɛʁ/ 		enterres
/ɑ̃.tɛʁ/ 		enterre
/ɑ̃.tɛʁ/ 		enterrons
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɔ̃/ 		enterrez
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁe/ 		enterrent
/ɑ̃.tɛʁ/
imperfect enterrais
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛ/ 		enterrais
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛ/ 		enterrait
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛ/ 		enterrions
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁjɔ̃/ 		enterriez
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁje/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁje/ 		enterraient
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛ/
past historic2 enterrai
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁe/ 		enterras
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa/ 		enterra
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa/ 		enterrâmes
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁam/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁam/ 		enterrâtes
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁat/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁat/ 		enterrèrent
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛʁ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛʁ/
future enterrerai
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁe/ 		enterreras
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁa/ 		enterrera
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁa/ 		enterrerons
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ 		enterrerez
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁe/ 		enterreront
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/
conditional enterrerais
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɛ/ 		enterrerais
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɛ/ 		enterrerait
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɛ/ 		enterrerions
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		enterreriez
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁje/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁje/ 		enterreraient
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.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 enterre
/ɑ̃.tɛʁ/ 		enterres
/ɑ̃.tɛʁ/ 		enterre
/ɑ̃.tɛʁ/ 		enterrions
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁjɔ̃/ 		enterriez
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁje/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁje/ 		enterrent
/ɑ̃.tɛʁ/
imperfect2 enterrasse
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁas/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁas/ 		enterrasses
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁas/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁas/ 		enterrât
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa/ 		enterrassions
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ 		enterrassiez
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa.sje/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa.sje/ 		enterrassent
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁas/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — enterre
/ɑ̃.tɛʁ/ 		— enterrons
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɔ̃/ 		enterrez
/ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁe/ 		—
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

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Descendants

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  • Mauritian Creole: antere

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Middle French

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Etymology

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From Old French enterrer, from Vulgar Latin *interrāre (“to put into earth”).

Verb

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enterrer

  1. to bury (in the Earth)

Conjugation

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  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of enterrer
infinitive simple enterrer
compound avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2 simple enterrant
compound present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle enterré
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative ie (i’) tu il, elle nous vous ilz, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present enterre enterres enterre enterrons enterrez enterrent
imperfect enterrois, enterroys enterrois, enterroys enterroit, enterroyt enterrions, enterryons enterriez, enterryez enterroient, enterroyent
past historic enterra enterras enterra enterrasmes enterrastes enterrerent
future enterrerai, enterreray enterreras enterrera enterrerons enterrerez enterreront
conditional enterrerois, enterreroys enterrerois, enterreroys enterreroit, enterreroyt enterrerions, enterreryons enterreriez, enterreryez enterreroient, enterreroyent
(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 enterre enterres enterre enterrons enterrez enterrent
imperfect enterrasse enterrasses enterrast enterrassions enterrassiez enterrassent
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — enterre — enterrons enterrez —
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

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Descendants

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Old French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Vulgar Latin *interrāre (“to put into earth”), from Latin terra.

Verb

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enterrer

  1. to bury (in the Earth)

Conjugation

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This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-rr, *-rrs, *-rrt are modified to r, rs, rt. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of enterrer (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple compound
infinitive enterrer avoir enterré
gerund en enterrant gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle enterrant
past participle enterré
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative jo tu il nos vos il
simple
tenses 		present enter enterres enterre enterrons enterrez enterrent
imperfect enterroie, enterreie, enterroe, enterreve enterroies, enterreies, enterroes, enterreves enterroit, enterreit, enterrot, enterreve enterriiens, enterriens enterriiez, enterriez enterroient, enterreient, enterroent, enterrevent
preterite enterrai enterras enterra enterrames enterrastes enterrerent
future enterrerai enterreras enterrera enterrerons enterreroiz, enterrereiz, enterrerez enterreront
conditional enterreroie, enterrereie enterreroies, enterrereies enterreroit, enterrereit enterreriiens, enterreriens enterreriiez, enterreriez enterreroient, enterrereient
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 enter enters entert enterrons enterrez enterrent
imperfect enterrasse enterrasses enterrast enterrissons, enterrissiens enterrissoiz, enterrissez, enterrissiez enterrassent
compound
tenses 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nos vos –
— enterre — enterrons enterrez —

Descendants

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