douter

See also: Douter and doûter

English

Etymology

dout (to put out) + -er.

Noun

douter (plural douters)

  1. (obsolete) An extinguisher for candles.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for douter”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

French

Alternative forms

  • doubter (obsolete)
  • doûter (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin dubitāre.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /du.te/
  • (file)

Verb

douter

  1. (followed by the preposition de) to doubt
    Il ne faut pas douter de la bonne foi de son interlocuteur.
    One must not doubt the intention of one's interlocutor.
    Je doute qu’il y parvienne.
    I doubt that he will manage.
    J’en doute.
    I doubt that.
  2. (reflexive) to suspect, to have an inkling
    Je me doutais qu’il n’allait pas bien, mais je ne savais pas que c’était à ce point-là.
    I suspected that he was not doing well, but I did not know that it was to that degree.
    Il s’en doute bien.
    He is well aware.

Usage notes

Douter subordinates a subjunctive content clause when used affirmatively, but subordinates the indicative when used non-affirmatively.

  • Je doute qu’il ait fait ses devoirs.
    I doubt that he finished his homework.
    (positive douter, subjunctive avoir)
  • Je ne doute pas qu’il a perdu son crayon par accident.
    I don't doubt that he lost his pencil by accident.
    (negative douter, indicative avoir)

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Middle French

Verb

douter

  1. Alternative form of doubter

Old French

Verb

douter

  1. Alternative form of doter

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ts, *-tt are modified to z, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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