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Definition 2024
labourer
labourer
English
Noun
labourer (plural labourers)
- British standard spelling of laborer.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 17, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.
-
French
Etymology
From Old French laborer, borrowed from Latin labōrāre, present active infinitive of labōrō. Replaced the Old French arer (“to plough”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /la.bu.ʁe/
Verb
labourer
- (transitive) to plough
Conjugation
Conjugation of labourer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | labourer | avoir labouré | |||||
| gerund | en labourant | en ayant labouré | |||||
| present participle | labourant /la.bu.ʁɑ̃/ |
||||||
| past participle | labouré /la.bu.ʁe/ |
||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | laboure /la.buʁ/ |
laboures /la.buʁ/ |
laboure /la.buʁ/ |
labourons /la.bu.ʁɔ̃/ |
labourez /la.bu.ʁe/ |
labourent /la.buʁ/ |
| imperfect | labourais /la.bu.ʁɛ/ |
labourais /la.bu.ʁɛ/ |
labourait /la.bu.ʁɛ/ |
labourions /la.bu.ʁjɔ̃/ |
labouriez /la.bu.ʁje/ |
labouraient /la.bu.ʁɛ/ |
|
| past historic1 | labourai /la.bu.ʁe/ |
labouras /la.bu.ʁa/ |
laboura /la.bu.ʁa/ |
labourâmes /la.bu.ʁam/ |
labourâtes /la.bu.ʁat/ |
labourèrent /la.bu.ʁɛʁ/ |
|
| future | labourerai /la.bu.ʁə.ʁe/ |
laboureras /la.bu.ʁə.ʁa/ |
labourera /la.bu.ʁə.ʁa/ |
labourerons /la.bu.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ |
labourerez /la.bu.ʁə.ʁe/ |
laboureront /la.bu.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ |
|
| conditional | labourerais /la.bu.ʁə.ʁɛ/ |
labourerais /la.bu.ʁə.ʁɛ/ |
labourerait /la.bu.ʁə.ʁɛ/ |
labourerions /la.bu.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
laboureriez /la.bu.ʁə.ʁje/ |
laboureraient /la.bu.ʁə.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 | laboure /la.buʁ/ |
laboures /la.buʁ/ |
laboure /la.buʁ/ |
labourions /la.bu.ʁjɔ̃/ |
labouriez /la.bu.ʁje/ |
labourent /la.buʁ/ |
| imperfect1 |
labourasse /la.bu.ʁas/ |
labourasses /la.bu.ʁas/ |
labourât /la.bu.ʁa/ |
labourassions /la.bu.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ |
labourassiez /la.bu.ʁa.sje/ |
labourassent /la.bu.ʁas/ |
|
| 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 | – | |
| — | laboure /la.buʁ/ |
— | labourons /la.bu.ʁɔ̃/ |
labourez /la.bu.ʁe/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
Derived terms
Middle French
Etymology
Verb
labourer
- to work (to do work); to labor
- to manufacture; to make (in a work context)
- 15th century, Rustichello da Pisa (original author), Mazarine Master (scribe), The Travels of Marco Polo, page 15, lines 5-6:
-
Et si labourent draps d'or et de soie et de toutes façons trés beaux.
- And they manufacture cloths of gold and of silk which are in all ways very beautiful.
-
Et si labourent draps d'or et de soie et de toutes façons trés beaux.
-
Descendants
- French: labourer
References
- labourer on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500) (in French)