charger

English

Etymology

From Middle English chargere, equivalent to charge +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtʃɑːdʒə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɑɹd͡ʒɚ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)dʒə(ɹ)

Noun

charger (plural chargers)

1. A device that charges or recharges.

   Put the batteries in the charger overnight so we can use them tomorrow.

   • 2024 March 6, “Network News: GWR '230' sets UK battery record”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 13:

     GWR plans to use it on the Greenford branch in west London, making use of a fast charger at West Ealing that will charge the batteries in just three and a half minutes. This fast charger is essentially a battery installed at the lineside which is trickle-charged from the electricity grid. It can then discharge quickly into the train's batteries through charging rails and then start recharging itself while the train is running in service.

2. One who charges.
   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 135:

     With the first volley Waziri fell. The speed of the chargers slackened. Another volley brought down a half dozen more.

   • 2018, Robert J. Stoller, Perversion: The Erotic Form of Hatred:

     That attack may damage the homosexual, but even as he is hurt, he also feels superior, because he is not a bull—a blind, stupid animal. Rather, he is an aesthete—a tweaker, not a charger.

3. (historical, military) A large horse trained for battle and used by the cavalry (of a lighter build than a destrier).

   The knight rode a white charger.

   • 1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:

     My centuria slept in one of the stables, under the stone mangers where the names of the cavalry chargers were still inscribed.

4. A large platter.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 14:8:

     And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.

5. A large decorative plate, sometimes used under dinner plates or other savoury-dish vessels in a multi-course meal; also service plate or underplate.

   The fancy restaurant used a white porcelain charger when serving.

6. (firearms) A speed loader that holds several cartridges together in a single unit for easier loading of a firearm's magazine.
7. (prison) A rectal concealment container for prohibited material such as money, drugs and tools.
   • 2004, Brian Helgeland, 01:44:10 from the start, in Man on Fire:

     "See this? This is a charger. It's used by convicts to hide money and drugs. They stick it in their body, they tuck it up their rectum."

8. Synonym of hard charger (“person with a good work ethic”).
   • 1980, Bill Gulley, Mary Ellen Reese, Breaking Cover, page 161:

     Miller had a new executive officer, a real charger, as they're known in the trade, who was looking into all aspects of the operation up there.

Derived terms

• battery charger
• chargerless
• power charger
• supercharger
• twincharger
• wall charger

Translations

a device that charges or recharges

Arabic: شَاحِن (ar) m (šāḥin) Hijazi Arabic: شاحِن m (šāḥin) Armenian: please add this translation if you can Azerbaijani: yükləyici Belarusian: зара́дная прыла́да f (zarádnaja pryláda) Bulgarian: заря́дно (bg) n (zarjádno), заря́дно устро́йство (bg) n (zarjádno ustrójstvo) Catalan: carregador (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 充電器 / 充电器 (zh) (chōngdiànqì) Czech: nabíječka (cs) f Danish: oplader (da) c, lader (da) c Dutch: oplader (nl) m Esperanto: elektra ŝargilo (eo) Estonian: akulaadija, laadija Finnish: laturi (fi) French: chargeur (fr) m Galician: cargador m Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Ladegerät (de) n Hebrew: מַטעֵן (he) m (mat'én) Hindi: चार्जर (cārjar), आवेशक (āveśak) Hungarian: töltő (hu), (battery) akkutöltő, akkumulátortöltő, (cellphone) telefontöltő, mobiltelefon-töltő Italian: caricabatterie (it) m Japanese: 充電器 (ja) (じゅうでんき, jūdenki), チャージャー (chājā) Khmer: ឆ្នាំងសាក (chnangsaak) Korean: 충전기(充電器) (ko) (chungjeon'gi) Lao: please add this translation if you can Latvian: lādētājs m Lithuanian: pakrovėjas m Macedonian: полнач (mk) m (polnač) Malay: please add this translation if you can Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: Bokmål: lader m Persian: شارژر (šâržer) Polish: ładowarka (pl) f Portuguese: carregador (pt) m Romanian: încărcător (ro) n Russian: заря́дное устро́йство (ru) n (zarjádnoje ustrójstvo), заря́дка (ru) f (zarjádka), заряжа́лка f (zarjažálka) (colloquial) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: пуњач m Roman: punjač m Slovak: nabíjačka f Slovene: polnilnik m Spanish: cargador (es) m Swahili: kimemeshi Swedish: laddare (sv) c Tagalog: panablay Tamil: please add this translation if you can Thai: เครื่องประจุแบตเตอรี่ (krʉ̂ʉang bprà-jù bɛ̀t-dtəə-rîi) (battery charger) Tibetan: please add this translation if you can Turkish: şarj aleti Ukrainian: заря́дний пристрі́й m (zarjádnyj prystríj) Vietnamese: bộ nạp điện (vi) Yiddish: אָנלאָדער m (onloder)

one who charges

Esperanto: ŝarĝisto sg Russian: заряжа́ющий (ru) m (zarjažájuščij) (loader)

a large horse trained for battle

Bulgarian: (please verify) строеви кон (stroevi kon) Catalan: corser (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 軍馬 / 军马 (zh) (jūnmǎ) Esperanto: batalĉevalego sg Hungarian: csataló (hu), harci mén Italian: corsiero (it) m Japanese: 軍馬 (ja) (ぐんば, gunba) Korean: 군마(軍馬) (ko) (gunma) Middle English: courser Polish: rumak (pl) m Russian: строева́я ло́шадь f (strojevája lóšadʹ), строево́й конь m (strojevój konʹ) Thai: ม้าศึก

a large platter

Bulgarian: (please verify) голяма плоска чиния (goljama ploska činija) Esperanto: pletego sg Hungarian: nagy tál Portuguese: salva (pt) f

a large platter under the dinner plate in a formal dinner setting

Danish: dækketallerken c Esperanto: subtelero sg Norwegian: dekketallerken m Portuguese: prato de baixo m

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French chargier, from Late Latin carricāre, from Latin carrus (“four-wheeled baggage wagon”). Compare Spanish cargar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃaʁ.ʒe/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Homophones: chargé, chargée, chargées, chargés, chargeai, chargez

Verb

charger

1. to load (up) (vehicle, animal etc.)
2. to load (firearm)
3. to charge (battery)
4. to put in charge; to charge (somebody with doing something)
5. to charge (somebody of a crime)
6. (military, sports) to charge
7. (theater) to overact, ham it up
8. (reflexive, se charger de) to take care of, see to

Conjugation

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written charge- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a "soft" /ʒ/ and not a "hard" /ɡ/). This spelling change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

Conjugation of charger (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	charger
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	chargeant /ʃaʁ.ʒɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		chargé /ʃaʁ.ʒe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	charge /ʃaʁʒ/	charges /ʃaʁʒ/	charge /ʃaʁʒ/	chargeons /ʃaʁ.ʒɔ̃/	chargez /ʃaʁ.ʒe/	chargent /ʃaʁʒ/
	imperfect	chargeais /ʃaʁ.ʒɛ/	chargeais /ʃaʁ.ʒɛ/	chargeait /ʃaʁ.ʒɛ/	chargions /ʃaʁ.ʒjɔ̃/	chargiez /ʃaʁ.ʒje/	chargeaient /ʃaʁ.ʒɛ/
	past historic2	chargeai /ʃaʁ.ʒe/	chargeas /ʃaʁ.ʒa/	chargea /ʃaʁ.ʒa/	chargeâmes /ʃaʁ.ʒam/	chargeâtes /ʃaʁ.ʒat/	chargèrent /ʃaʁ.ʒɛʁ/
	future	chargerai /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁe/	chargeras /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁa/	chargera /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁa/	chargerons /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁɔ̃/	chargerez /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁe/	chargeront /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	chargerais /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁɛ/	chargerais /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁɛ/	chargerait /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁɛ/	chargerions /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁjɔ̃/	chargeriez /ʃaʁ.ʒə.ʁje/	chargeraient /ʃaʁ.ʒə.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	charge /ʃaʁʒ/	charges /ʃaʁʒ/	charge /ʃaʁʒ/	chargions /ʃaʁ.ʒjɔ̃/	chargiez /ʃaʁ.ʒje/	chargent /ʃaʁʒ/
	imperfect2	chargeasse /ʃaʁ.ʒas/	chargeasses /ʃaʁ.ʒas/	chargeât /ʃaʁ.ʒa/	chargeassions /ʃaʁ.ʒa.sjɔ̃/	chargeassiez /ʃaʁ.ʒa.sje/	chargeassent /ʃaʁ.ʒas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	charge /ʃaʁʒ/	—	chargeons /ʃaʁ.ʒɔ̃/	chargez /ʃaʁ.ʒe/	—
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

• charger la barque

Related terms

• caricature
• char
• charrier

Descendants

• Esperanto: ŝarĝi
• Persian: شارژ کردن (šârž kardan)

Further reading

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

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French chargier.

Verb

charger

1. to load (with goods, etc.)

Conjugation

• As parler except an extra e is inserted after the final g before a and o.
• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of charger

infinitive	simple	charger
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	chargeant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		chargé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	charge	charges	charge	chargeons	chargez	chargent
	imperfect	chargeois, chargeoys	chargeois, chargeoys	chargeoit, chargeoyt	chargions, chargyons	chargiez, chargyez	chargeoient, chargeoyent
	past historic	chargea	chargeas	chargea	chargeasmes	chargeastes	chargerent
	future	chargerai, chargeray	chargeras	chargera	chargerons	chargerez	chargeront
	conditional	chargerois, chargeroys	chargerois, chargeroys	chargeroit, chargeroyt	chargerions, chargeryons	chargeriez, chargeryez	chargeroient, chargeroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	charge	charges	charge	chargeons	chargez	chargent
	imperfect	chargeasse	chargeasses	chargeast	chargeassions	chargeassiez	chargeassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	charge	—	chargeons	chargez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Derived terms

• encharger

Descendants

• French: charger