dire

See also: diré and díře

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dīrus (“fearful, ominous”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)

Adjective

dire (comparative direr or more dire, superlative direst or most dire)

Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
dire omens
Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing.
dire need
- 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
  One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. […] But out of sight is out of mind. And that, together with the inherent yuckiness of the subject, means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.
Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal.
dire consequences; to be in dire straits
Synonyms: horrible, terrible, lamentable
- 2019 August 30, Jonathan Watts, “Amazon fires show world heading for point of no return, says UN”, in The Guardian‎:
  Cristiana Paşca Palmer, the executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said the destruction of the world’s biggest rainforest was a grim reminder that a fresh approach needed to stabilise the climate and prevent ecosystems from declining to a point of no return, with dire consequences for humanity.
(informal) Bad in quality, awful, terrible.
- 2011 December 10, Arindam Rej, “Norwich 4-2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:
  A second Norwich goal in four minutes arrived after some dire Newcastle defending. Gosling gave the ball away with a sloppy back-pass, allowing Crofts to curl in a cross that the unmarked Morison powered in with a firm, 12-yard header.
His dire mistake allowed her to checkmate him with her next move.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:dire.

Derived terms

direful
direly
direness
dire sisters
dire straits
dire wolf

Translations

warning of bad consequences

Armenian: չարագուշակ (hy) (čʿaragušak)
Bulgarian: злове́щ (bg) (zlovéšt)
Danish: ildevarslende
Dutch: onheilspellend (nl), omineus (nl)
Finnish: hirveä (fi), kamala (fi), kauhea (fi), pahaenteinen (fi), pahaenteinen (fi)
French: funeste (fr), sinistre (fr)
German: düster (de), böse (de), fatal (de)
Norwegian: skummel, illevarslende
Portuguese: mal-agoirado, mal-agouro, funesto (pt)
Russian: злове́щий (ru) (zlovéščij), гнету́щий (ru) m (gnetúščij)
Spanish: de mal agüero, portentoso (es)

requiring action to prevent bad consequences

French: pressant (fr)
German: verzweifelt (de), händeringend (de), fürchterlich dringend
Portuguese: calamitoso (pt)
Russian: неотло́жный (ru) m (neotlóžnyj), э́кстренный (ru) m (ékstrennyj), сро́чный (ru) m (sróčnyj), безотлага́тельный (ru) m (bezotlagátelʹnyj)

expressing bad consequences

Bulgarian: стра́шен (bg) (strášen), ужа́сен (bg) (užásen)
Danish: ondskabsfuld, skrækkelig
Dutch: gevaarlijk (nl), vreselijk (nl), sinister (nl), verschrikkelijk (nl)
Finnish: hirveä (fi), kamala (fi), kauhea (fi)
French: extrême (fr), terrible (fr)
German: schrecklich (de), entsetzlich (de), furchtbar (de)
Italian: terribile (it), tremendo (it), tragico (it), catastrofico (it)
Latin: dīrus
Latvian: šausmīgs
Lithuanian: baisus
Norwegian: skrekkelig, ondskapsfull (no)
Polish: poważny (pl), straszny (pl)
Portuguese: horrível (pt), terrível (pt)
Russian: жу́ткий (ru) (žútkij), ужа́сный (ru) (užásnyj), стра́шный (ru) (strášnyj), мра́чный (ru) m (mráčnyj)
Spanish: maligno (es)

bad in quality

German: furchtbar (de), schlimm (de), fürchterlich (de)
Russian: нека́чественный (ru) (nekáčestvennyj), дрянно́й (ru) (drjannój), третьесо́ртный (ru) (tretʹjesórtnyj), низкока́чественный (ru) (nizkokáčestvennyj), недоброка́чественный (ru) (nedobrokáčestvennyj)

Anagrams

Deri, Dier, IDer, Reid, dier, drie, ired, ride

Catalan

Alternative forms

diure (Algherese)

Pronunciation

(Algherese) IPA^(key): /ˈdiɾa/

Verb

dire

(Northern Catalan, Alghero) Alternative form of dir

French

Etymology

From Middle French dire, from Old French dire, from Latin dīcō, from Proto-Italic *deikō, from Proto-Indo-European *déyḱti (“to show, point out”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /diʁ/
audio (file)
(Quebec) IPA^(key): /d͡ziʁ/
Rhymes: -iʁ

Verb

dire

to say, to tell
(informal) to be of interest to, to interest [+ à (someone)]
Ça te dit de regarder un film de science-fiction? ― Do you want to watch a science fiction movie? What do you say to watching a science fiction movie?
Ça vous dit ? ― Are you interested [in doing this]? Are you up [for it]?
Il m'a demandé si ça nous dirait de nous joindre à eux plus tard. ― He asked me if we'd like to join them later.
Ça ne me dit trop rien d'y aller. ― I don't really want to go [there].
(informal) to sound familiar [+ à (someone)]
Ça me dit quelque chose. ― It rings a bell.
Ça ne me dit rien. ― It doesn't ring a bell.

Conjugation

Conjugation of dire (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	compound	avoir + past participle
infinitive	simple	dire
present participle or gerund¹	simple	disant /di.zɑ̃/
present participle or gerund¹	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		dit /di/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	dis /di/	dis /di/	dit /di/	disons /di.zɔ̃/	dites /dit/	disent /diz/
	imperfect	disais /di.zɛ/	disais /di.zɛ/	disait /di.zɛ/	disions /di.zjɔ̃/	disiez /di.zje/	disaient /di.zɛ/
	past historic²	dis /di/	dis /di/	dit /di/	dîmes /dim/	dîtes /dit/	dirent /diʁ/
	future	dirai /di.ʁe/	diras /di.ʁa/	dira /di.ʁa/	dirons /di.ʁɔ̃/	direz /di.ʁe/	diront /di.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	dirais /di.ʁɛ/	dirais /di.ʁɛ/	dirait /di.ʁɛ/	dirions /di.ʁjɔ̃/	diriez /di.ʁje/	diraient /di.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	dise /diz/	dises /diz/	dise /diz/	disions /di.zjɔ̃/	disiez /di.zje/	disent /diz/
(simple tenses)	imperfect²	disse /dis/	disses /dis/	dît /di/	dissions /di.sjɔ̃/	dissiez /di.sje/	dissent /dis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
(compound tenses)	pluperfect²	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	~~nous~~	~~vous~~	–
simple		—	dis /di/	—	disons /di.zɔ̃/	dites /dit/	—
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 ce qu'on dit
à dire la vérité
aller sans dire
à qui le dis-tu
à qui le dites-vous
au dire de
aussitôt dit, aussitôt fait
autrement dit
avoir son mot à dire
avoir un œil qui dit merde à l'autre
à vrai dire
bien dit
ça va sans dire
ceci dit
ceci étant dit
cela dit
cela étant dit
cela va sans dire
ce n'est pas pour dire
c'est celui qui dit qui l'est
c'est dire
c'est le cas de le dire
c'est le moins qu'on puisse dire
c'est moi qui te le dis
c'est moi qui vous le dis
c'est pas pour dire
c'est rien de le dire
comme qui dirait
dire adieu
dire du mal
dire pis que pendre
dire que
dire quelque chose
dire quoi
dire ses quatre vérités
dis donc
dis-moi qui tu fréquentes et je te dirai qui tu es
en dire des vertes et des pas mûres
en dire long
en moins de temps qu'il ne faut pour le dire
fais ce que je dis, pas ce que je fais
il ne faut jamais dire jamais
il n'y a pas à dire
Jacques a dit
je dis ça, je dis rien
je ne te dis pas
je ne te le fais pas dire
je ne vous le fais pas dire
je te dis merde
la messe est dite
maudire
médire
mon petit doigt m'a dit
ne jamais dire jamais
ne pas croire si bien dire
ne pas se le faire dire deux fois
ne rien dire qui vaille
parler pour ne rien dire
plus facile à dire qu'à faire
pour ainsi dire
pour ne pas dire
pour tout dire
proprement dit
qui dit mieux
qui ne dit mot consent
qu'on se le dise
sans mot dire
se le tenir pour dit
si je puis dire
si le cœur t'en dit
si le cœur vous en dit
si tu le dis
si tu vois ce que je veux dire
si vous le dites
soit dit en passant
susdit
tu l'as dit
tu m'en diras des nouvelles
tu m'en diras tant
vouloir dire
vous m'en direz des nouvelles

Related terms

diction
indicible

Noun

dire m (plural dires)

saying (that which is said)
belief, opinion

Derived terms

aux dires de

Anagrams

ride, ridé

Italian

Alternative forms

dicere (archaic)

Etymology

From a contraction of Latin dīcere, from Proto-Italic *deikō, from Proto-Indo-European *déyḱti (“to show, point out”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdi.re/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ire
Hyphenation: dì‧re

Verb

dìre (first-person singular present dìco, first-person singular past historic dìssi, past participle détto, first-person singular imperfect dicévo, second-person singular imperative dì' or (with syntactic gemination after the verb, with written accent on monosyllabic verb) dì, auxiliary avére) (transitive)

to say, tell
to recite
to mean
to think
to admit

Conjugation

Conjugation of dìre (-ere; irregular) (See Appendix:Italian verbs)

person	singular			plural
infinitive	dìre
auxiliary verb		avére	gerund		dicèndo
present participle		dicènte	past participle		détto
person	first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	io	tu	lui/lei, esso/essa	noi	voi	loro, essi/esse
present	dìco	dìci	dìce	diciàmo	dìte	dìcono
imperfect	dicévo	dicévi	dicéva	dicevàmo	dicevàte	dicévano
past historic	dìssi	dicésti	dìsse	dicémmo	dicéste	dìssero
future	dirò	dirài	dirà	dirémo	diréte	dirànno
conditional	io	tu	lui/lei, esso/essa	noi	voi	loro, essi/esse
present	dirèi	dirésti	dirèbbe, dirébbe	dirémmo	diréste	dirèbbero, dirébbero
subjunctive	che io	che tu	che lui/che lei, che esso/che essa	che noi	che voi	che loro, che essi/che esse
present	dìca	dìca	dìca	diciàmo	diciàte	dìcano
imperfect	dicéssi	dicéssi	dicésse	dicéssimo	dicéste	dicéssero
imperative	—	tu	Lei	noi	voi	Loro
imperative		dì', dì^1,2	dìca	diciàmo	dìte	dìcano
negative imperative		non dìre	non dìca	non diciàmo	non dìte	non dìcano

¹With syntactic gemination after the verb.
²With written accent on monosyllabic verb.

Related terms

addire
a detta di
a dir poco
benedire
dettare
detto
dicace
dicesi
dirsi
dizionario
dizione
indire
maledire
modo di dire
non dire né ai né bai
ridire
vale a dire
voler dire

Anagrams

Drei, Redi, idre, redi, ride

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈdiː.re/, [ˈd̪iːrɛ]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈdi.re/, [ˈd̪iːre]

Adjective

dīre

vocative masculine singular of dīrus

References

“dire”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French dire, from a contraction of Latin dīcere, present active infinitive of dīcō.

Verb

dire

to say (express using language)

Descendants

French: dire

Occitan

Alternative forms

díder, díser

Etymology

From Old Occitan dir, dire, from a contraction of Latin dīcere, present active infinitive of dīcō.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdi.ɾe/
Audio (Languedocien) (file)

Verb

dire

to say (express using language)
to mean; to signify

Conjugation

Lengadocian (Central Occitan)

		simple			compound
infinitive		dire			aver dich
gerund		disent			*use gerund of aver* + past participle**
past participle		dich			—
person		singular			plural
person		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	disi	dises	ditz	disèm	disètz	dison
	imperfect	disiái	disiás	disiá	disiam	disiatz	disián
	preterite	diguèri	diguères	diguèt	diguèrem	diguèretz	diguèron
	future	dirai	diràs	dirà	direm	diretz	diràn
	conditional	diriái	diriás	diriá	diriam	diriatz	dirián
	conditional 2nd form¹	[[{{{49}}}#Occitan\|{{{49}}}]]	[[{{{50}}}#Occitan\|{{{50}}}]]	[[{{{51}}}#Occitan\|{{{51}}}]]	[[{{{52}}}#Occitan\|{{{52}}}]]	[[{{{53}}}#Occitan\|{{{53}}}]]	[[{{{54}}}#Occitan\|{{{54}}}]]
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	diga	digas	diga	digam	digatz	digan
	imperfect	diguèsse	diguèsses	diguèsse	diguèssem	diguèssetz	diguèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
compound tenses	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
imperative			diga		digam	digatz	¹Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Old French

Etymology

From a contraction of Latin dīcere, present active infinitive of dīcō.

Verb

dire

(chiefly intransitive) to say
(transitive) to recount (a story)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		dire			avoir dit
gerund		en disant			Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle		disant
past participle		dit
person		singular			plural
person		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	di	dis	dit	dimes, dions, disons	dites	dient
	imperfect	disoie, diseie	disoies, diseies	disoit, diseit	disiiens, disiens	disiiez, disiez	disoient, diseient
	preterite	dis	desis	dist	desimes	desistes	distrent
	future	dirai	diras	dira	dirons	diroiz, direiz, direz	diront
	conditional	diroie, direie	diroies, direies	diroit, direit	diriiens, diriens	diriiez, diriez	diroient, direient
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	dïe	dïes	dïe	diiens, dions, disiens, disons	diiez, disiez	dïent
simple tenses	imperfect	desisse	desisses	desist	desissons, desissiens	desissoiz, desissez, desissiez	desissent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
compound tenses	pluperfect	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
imperative		—	di	—	dimes, dions, disons	dites	—

Descendants

Middle French: dire
- French: dire
Norman: dithe
Walloon: dire

References

“Appendix E: Irregular Verbs” in E. Einhorn (1974), Old French: A Concise Handbook, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 153

Old Occitan

Alternative forms

dir

Etymology

From a contraction of Latin dīcere, present active infinitive of dīcō.

Verb

dire

to say

Descendants

Occitan: dire

Walloon

Etymology

From Old French dire, from a contraction of Latin dīcō, dīcere.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /diːʀ/

Verb

dire

to say

dire

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Quotations

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Catalan

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Verb

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

Derived terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Conjugation

Related terms

Anagrams

Latin

Pronunciation

Adjective

References

Middle French

Etymology

Verb

Descendants

Occitan

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Conjugation

Old French

Etymology

Verb

Conjugation

Descendants

References

Old Occitan

Alternative forms

Etymology

Verb

Descendants

Walloon

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb