escamoter
French
Etymology
Probably from an old form of Occitan escamotar, from escamar, from Latin squāma (“scale [of a fish]”). Compare Italian squamare (“to scale”). Alternatively from Spanish escamotar, from Latin excommutare.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛs.ka.mɔ.te/
Audio (file)
Verb
escamoter
- (transitive) to conjure away, to make disappear
- (by extension, transitive) to snatch, to nick
- Synonym: piquer
- 1750, Louis-Charles Fougeret de Monbron, Le Cosmopolite, ou Le Citoyen du monde, London, published 1760, page 54:
- Ce petit accident, joint à la perte d’environ quarante sequins que m’avoit escamoté cet aimable compagnon de débauche, rompit tout-à-coup la douce harmonie de nos cœurs ; & notre désunion fut aussi prompte, que notre liaison l’avoit été.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- (transitive) to evade, dodge; to skip (a word, question, etc.)
- Synonym: esquiver
- (transitive) to retract (landing gear)
Conjugation
Conjugation of escamoter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive | simple | escamoter | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | escamotant /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | escamoté /ɛs.ka.mɔ.te/ | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) | present | escamote /ɛs.ka.mɔt/ | escamotes /ɛs.ka.mɔt/ | escamote /ɛs.ka.mɔt/ | escamotons /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tɔ̃/ | escamotez /ɛs.ka.mɔ.te/ | escamotent /ɛs.ka.mɔt/ |
imperfect | escamotais /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tɛ/ | escamotais /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tɛ/ | escamotait /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tɛ/ | escamotions /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tjɔ̃/ | escamotiez /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tje/ | escamotaient /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tɛ/ | |
past historic2 | escamotai /ɛs.ka.mɔ.te/ | escamotas /ɛs.ka.mɔ.ta/ | escamota /ɛs.ka.mɔ.ta/ | escamotâmes /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tam/ | escamotâtes /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tat/ | escamotèrent /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tɛʁ/ | |
future | escamoterai /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁe/ | escamoteras /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁa/ | escamotera /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁa/ | escamoterons /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁɔ̃/ | escamoterez /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁe/ | escamoteront /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | escamoterais /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁɛ/ | escamoterais /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁɛ/ | escamoterait /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁɛ/ | escamoterions /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ | escamoteriez /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tə.ʁje/ | escamoteraient /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tʁɛ/ | |
(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 | escamote /ɛs.ka.mɔt/ | escamotes /ɛs.ka.mɔt/ | escamote /ɛs.ka.mɔt/ | escamotions /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tjɔ̃/ | escamotiez /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tje/ | escamotent /ɛs.ka.mɔt/ |
imperfect2 | escamotasse /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tas/ | escamotasses /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tas/ | escamotât /ɛs.ka.mɔ.ta/ | escamotassions /ɛs.ka.mɔ.ta.sjɔ̃/ | escamotassiez /ɛs.ka.mɔ.ta.sje/ | escamotassent /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tas/ | |
(compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | escamote /ɛs.ka.mɔt/ | — | escamotons /ɛs.ka.mɔ.tɔ̃/ | escamotez /ɛs.ka.mɔ.te/ | — | |
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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
Derived terms
- escamotage
- escamoteur
Further reading
- “escamoter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.