accoster

English

Etymology

From accost +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɒstə(ɹ)

Noun

accoster (plural accosters)

1. One who accosts somebody.

Anagrams

• ectosarc

French

Etymology

From a- +‎ Old French coste +‎ -er. Old French coste has become côte in modern French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.kɔs.te/

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Verb

accoster

1. (intransitive, nautical) to come ashore

   Synonym: arriver

2. (transitive) to lay something next to another object

   Synonym: juxtaposer

3. (transitive, by extension, slightly derogatory) to approach someone; to interrupt someone (especially a stranger, in the street)

   Synonym: aborder

   • 1973, Jean Eustache, La Maman et la Putain, spoken by Veronica:

     Vous accostez souvent les filles comment vous m'avez accosté ?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2016, Mathilde Ramadier, Alberto Madrigal, Berlin 2.0, Futuropolis, →ISBN, page 51:

     A Berlin on peut s'habiller comme on veut. Vraiment comme on veut. Les mecs ne sont pas macho. Quand on se prend une remarque au vol ou qu'on se fait accoster par un type lourd, c'est qu'il est italien, espagnol ou français…

     In Berlin you can dress as you like. Really however you like. The dudes aren't macho. When you get a passing remark or you're accosted by an annoying guy, it's because he's Italian, Spanish, or French…

Conjugation

Conjugation of accoster (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	accoster
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	accostant /a.kɔs.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		accosté /a.kɔs.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	accoste /a.kɔst/	accostes /a.kɔst/	accoste /a.kɔst/	accostons /a.kɔs.tɔ̃/	accostez /a.kɔs.te/	accostent /a.kɔst/
	imperfect	accostais /a.kɔs.tɛ/	accostais /a.kɔs.tɛ/	accostait /a.kɔs.tɛ/	accostions /a.kɔs.tjɔ̃/	accostiez /a.kɔs.tje/	accostaient /a.kɔs.tɛ/
	past historic2	accostai /a.kɔs.te/	accostas /a.kɔs.ta/	accosta /a.kɔs.ta/	accostâmes /a.kɔs.tam/	accostâtes /a.kɔs.tat/	accostèrent /a.kɔs.tɛʁ/
	future	accosterai /a.kɔs.tə.ʁe/	accosteras /a.kɔs.tə.ʁa/	accostera /a.kɔs.tə.ʁa/	accosterons /a.kɔs.tə.ʁɔ̃/	accosterez /a.kɔs.tə.ʁe/	accosteront /a.kɔs.tə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	accosterais /a.kɔs.tə.ʁɛ/	accosterais /a.kɔs.tə.ʁɛ/	accosterait /a.kɔs.tə.ʁɛ/	accosterions /a.kɔs.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	accosteriez /a.kɔs.tə.ʁje/	accosteraient /a.kɔs.tə.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	accoste /a.kɔst/	accostes /a.kɔst/	accoste /a.kɔst/	accostions /a.kɔs.tjɔ̃/	accostiez /a.kɔs.tje/	accostent /a.kɔst/
	imperfect2	accostasse /a.kɔs.tas/	accostasses /a.kɔs.tas/	accostât /a.kɔs.ta/	accostassions /a.kɔs.ta.sjɔ̃/	accostassiez /a.kɔs.ta.sje/	accostassent /a.kɔs.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	accoste /a.kɔst/	—	accostons /a.kɔs.tɔ̃/	accostez /a.kɔs.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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• accostage

Further reading

• “accoster”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.