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Webster 1913 Edition
Payer
Pay′er
,Noun.
One who pays; specifically, the person by whom a bill or note has been, or should be, paid.
Webster 1828 Edition
Payer
PAY'ER
,Noun.
Definition 2025
payer
payer
See also: payér
English
Alternative forms
Noun
payer (plural payers)
- One who pays; specifically, the person by whom a bill or note has been, or should be, paid.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
one who pays
Anagrams
French
Etymology
From Latin pacāre, present active infinitive of pacō (“pacify”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pe.je/, /pɛ.je/
Verb
payer
- (transitive) to pay (for)
- payer une amende - pay a fine
- payer un service - pay for a service
- (transitive) to pay (someone)
- il m'a payé 3 euros - he paid me 3 euros
- payer la caissière - pay the cashier
- pay for (suffer the consequences of something)
- to pay off
Conjugation
This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer, the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to both groups, according to the writer's preference).
Conjugation of payer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | payer | avoir payé | |||||
| gerund | en payant | en ayant payé | |||||
| present participle | payant /pɛ.jɑ̃/ or /pe.jɑ̃/ |
||||||
| past participle | payé /pɛ.je/ or /pe.je/ |
||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | paye or paie /pɛj/ or /pɛ/ |
payes or paies /pɛj/ or /pɛ/ |
paye or paie /pɛj/ or /pɛ/ |
payons /pɛ.jɔ̃/ or /pe.jɔ̃/ |
payez /pɛ.je/ or /pe.je/ |
payent or paient /pɛj/ or /pɛ/ |
| imperfect | payais /pɛ.jɛ/ or /pe.jɛ/ |
payais /pɛ.jɛ/ or /pe.jɛ/ |
payait /pɛ.jɛ/ or /pe.jɛ/ |
payions /pɛj.jɔ̃/ or /pej.jɔ̃/ |
payiez /pɛj.je/ or /pej.je/ |
payaient /pɛ.jɛ/ or /pe.jɛ/ |
|
| past historic1 | payai /pɛ.je/ or /pe.je/ |
payas /pɛ.ja/ or /pe.ja/ |
paya /pɛ.ja/ or /pe.ja/ |
payâmes /pɛ.jam/ or /pe.jam/ |
payâtes /pɛ.jat/ or /pe.jat/ |
payèrent /pɛ.jɛʁ/ or /pe.jɛʁ/ |
|
| future | payerai or paierai /pɛj.ʁe/ or /pɛ.ʁe/ |
payeras or paieras /pɛj.ʁa/ or /pɛ.ʁa/ |
payera or paiera /pɛj.ʁa/ or /pɛ.ʁa/ |
payerons or paierons /pɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /pɛ.ʁɔ̃/ |
payerez or paierez /pɛj.ʁe/ or /pɛ.ʁe/ |
payeront or paieront /pɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /pɛ.ʁɔ̃/ |
|
| conditional | payerais or paierais /pɛj.ʁɛ/ or /pɛ.ʁɛ/ |
payerais or paierais /pɛj.ʁɛ/ or /pɛ.ʁɛ/ |
payerait or paierait /pɛj.ʁɛ/ or /pɛ.ʁɛ/ |
payerions or paierions /pɛ.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /pɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ |
payeriez or paieriez /pɛ.jə.ʁje/ or /pɛ.ʁje/ |
payeraient or paieraient /pɛj.ʁɛ/ or /pɛ.ʁɛ/ |
|
| 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 anterior1 | Use the past historic 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 je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | paye or paie /pɛj/ or /pɛ/ |
payes or paies /pɛj/ or /pɛ/ |
paye or paie /pɛj/ or /pɛ/ |
payions /pɛj.jɔ̃/ or /pej.jɔ̃/ |
payiez /pɛj.je/ or /pej.je/ |
payent or paient /pɛj/ or /pɛ/ |
| imperfect1 |
payasse /pɛ.jas/ or /pe.jas/ |
payasses /pɛ.jas/ or /pe.jas/ |
payât /pɛ.ja/ or /pe.ja/ |
payassions /pɛ.ja.sjɔ̃/ or /pe.ja.sjɔ̃/ |
payassiez /pɛ.ja.sje/ or /pe.ja.sje/ |
payassent /pɛ.jas/ or /pe.jas/ |
|
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | paye or paie /pɛj/ or /pɛ/ |
— | payons /pɛ.jɔ̃/ or /pe.jɔ̃/ |
payez /pɛ.je/ or /pe.je/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
Related terms
Middle French
Verb
payer
- to pay
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of payer
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | payer | avoir payé | |||||
| gerund | en payant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | payant | ||||||
| past participle | payé | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (may be i' before a vowel) | tu | il | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| simple tenses |
present | paye | payes | paye | payons | payez | payent |
| imperfect | payois, payoys | payois, payoys | payoit, payoyt | payions, payyons | payiez, payyez | payoient, payoyent | |
| past historic | paya | payas | paya | payasmes | payastes | payerent | |
| future | payerai, payeray | payeras | payera | payerons | payerez | payeront | |
| conditional | payerois, payeroys | payerois, payeroys | payeroit, payeroyt | payerions, payeryons | payeriez, payeryez | payeroient, payeroyent | |
| 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 past historic 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 ie | que tu | qu'il | que nous | que vous | qu'ilz, qu'elles | |
| simple tenses |
present | paye | payes | paye | payons | payez | payent |
| imperfect | payasse | payasses | payast | payassions | payassiez | payassent | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | paye | — | payons | payez | — | ||
Norman
Alternative forms
- payi (Jersey)
Etymology
From Old French paier, from Medieval Latin pācāre (“to settle, satisfy”) from Latin pācō, pācāre (“make peaceful, pacify, quiet, soothe; subdue”), from pāx (“peace”).
Verb
payer