dire

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See also: diré and díře

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
    dire omens
  2. 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.
  3. Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal
    dire consequences;  to be in dire straits
    • 2019 August 30, Jonathan Watts, “Amazon fires show world heading for point of no return, says UN”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      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.
    Synonyms: horrible, terrible, lamentable
  4. (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[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from dire

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

Verb[edit]

dire

  1. to say, to tell
  2. (informal) (transitive with à) to be of interest to someone, to interest 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].
  3. (informal) (transitive with à) to sound familiar
    Ça me dit quelque chose. ― It rings a bell.
    Ça ne me dit rien. ― It doesn't ring a bell.

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of dire (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple dire
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple disant
/di.zɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle dit
/di/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle 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/
imperfect2 disse
/dis/ 		disses
/dis/ 		dît
/di/ 		dissions
/di.sjɔ̃/ 		dissiez
/di.sje/ 		dissent
/dis/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
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, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

dire m (plural dires)

  1. saying (that which is said)
  2. belief, opinion

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Italian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

dìre (first-person singular present dìco, first-person singular past historic dìssi, past participle détto, first-person singular imperfect dicévo, second-person singular imperative di' or (with written accent, with following syntactic gemination) dì, auxiliary avere) (transitive)

  1. to say, tell
  2. to recite
  3. to mean
  4. to think
  5. to admit

Conjugation[edit]

    Conjugation of dire
infinitive dire
auxiliary verb avere gerund dicendo
present participle dicente past participle detto
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative io tu lui/lei, esso/essa noi voi loro, essi/esse
present dico dici dice diciamo dite dicono
imperfect dicevo dicevi diceva dicevamo dicevate dicevano
past historic dissi dicesti disse dicemmo diceste dissero
future dirò dirai dirà diremo direte diranno
conditional io tu lui/lei, esso/essa noi voi loro, essi/esse
present direi diresti direbbe diremmo direste direbbero
subjunctive che io che tu che lui/che lei, che esso/che essa che noi che voi che loro, che essi/che esse
present dica dica dica diciamo diciate dicano
imperfect dicessi dicessi dicesse dicessimo diceste dicessero
imperative — tu Lei noi voi Loro
dì, di', non dire dica diciamo dite dicano

Related terms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

dīre

  1. vocative masculine singular of dīrus

References[edit]

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

Middle French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

dire

  1. to say (express using language)

Descendants[edit]

  • French: dire

Occitan[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio (Languedocien)
    		(file)

Verb[edit]

dire

  1. to say (express using language)
  2. to mean; to signify

Conjugation[edit]

    Blason Languedoc.svg Lengadocian (Standard Occitan)
simple compound
infinitive dire aver dich
gerund disent use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle dich —
person singular plural
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
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
pluperfect use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative — tu — nosautres vosautres —
diga digam digatz

Old French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

dire

  1. (chiefly intransitive) to say
  2. (transitive) to recount (a story)

Conjugation[edit]

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
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
imperfect desisse desisses desist desissons, desissiens desissoiz, desissez, desissiez desissent
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 – nos vos –
— di — dimes, dions, disons dites —

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

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

Old Occitan[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

dire

  1. to say

Descendants[edit]

Walloon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

dire

  1. to say
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