despouiller

Middle French

FWOTD – 24 August 2020

Etymology

From Old French despoillier, from Latin despoliare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdeːpuˈʎɛ(r)/

Verb

despouiller

1. to skin (an animal)
2. (figuratively) to strip away, to remove
   • elle se mesla parmi ses compaignes : lesquelles ayant außi despouillé la prarie de sa dignite (L'Arcadie-Trad-Massin, published 1544, Paris)

     She went amongst her friends, who had also stripped the prairie of its dignity.

3. to undress (someone)
   • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 39:

     Lois le fist despoullier tout nu

     Louis made him strip completely naked

4. (reflexive, se despouiller) to undress oneself; to get undressed

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of despouiller

infinitive	simple	despouiller
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	despouillant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		despouillé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	despouille	despouilles	despouille	despouillons	despouillez	despouillent
	imperfect	despouillois, despouilloys	despouillois, despouilloys	despouilloit, despouilloyt	despouillions, despouillyons	despouilliez, despouillyez	despouilloient, despouilloyent
	past historic	despouilla	despouillas	despouilla	despouillasmes	despouillastes	despouillerent
	future	despouillerai, despouilleray	despouilleras	despouillera	despouillerons	despouillerez	despouilleront
	conditional	despouillerois, despouilleroys	despouillerois, despouilleroys	despouilleroit, despouilleroyt	despouillerions, despouilleryons	despouilleriez, despouilleryez	despouilleroient, despouilleroyent
(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	despouille	despouilles	despouille	despouillons	despouillez	despouillent
	imperfect	despouillasse	despouillasses	despouillast	despouillassions	despouillassiez	despouillassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	despouille	—	despouillons	despouillez	—
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: dépouiller