clore

See also: Clore and cloré

French

Etymology

From Middle French clore, from Old French clore, from Latin claudere. Now largely replaced by fermer because of interference with clouer (“to nail”) in certain conjugated forms.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klɔʁ/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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Verb

clore (defective)

1. (transitive) close (put an end to)

   Le débat est clos. / La discussion est close. ― The discussion is closed.

   • 2025 December 27, Julie Carriat, Sandrine Cassini, “Jean-Luc Mélenchon, avec la « nouvelle France », s’empare du terrain de l’identité pour contrer l’extrême droite”, in Le Monde‎:

     En 2024, la campagne des européennes, marquée par la dénonciation de la guerre à Gaza par la juriste franco-palestinienne Rima Hassan, se clôt sur ce thème.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

This verb is not conjugated in certain tenses.

Conjugation of clore (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	clore
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	closant /klo.zɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		clos /klo/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	clos /klo/	clos /klo/	clôt /klo/	closons /klo.zɔ̃/	closez /klo.ze/	closent /kloz/
	imperfect	—	—	—	—	—	—
	past historic2	—	—	—	—	—	—
	future	clorai /klɔ.ʁe/	cloras /klɔ.ʁa/	clora /klɔ.ʁa/	clorons /klɔ.ʁɔ̃/	clorez /klɔ.ʁe/	cloront /klɔ.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	clorais /klɔ.ʁɛ/	clorais /klɔ.ʁɛ/	clorait /klɔ.ʁɛ/	clorions /klɔ.ʁjɔ̃/	cloriez /klɔ.ʁje/	cloraient /klɔ.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	close /kloz/	closes /kloz/	close /kloz/	closions /klo.zjɔ̃/	closiez /klo.zje/	closent /kloz/
	imperfect2	—	—	—	—	—	—
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	clos /klo/	—	closons /klo.zɔ̃/	closez /klo.ze/	—
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).

Related terms

• cloison
• clos
• clôture
• clôturer
• déclore
• enclore

Further reading

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

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French clore.

Verb

clore

1. (transitive) to enclose (surround something with something)

Descendants

• French: clore

Old French

Etymology

Inherited from Latin claudere.

Verb

clore

1. to close
2. to enclose (with walls, etc.)
   • c. 1180, Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette:

     Clos de haut mur et de fossé

     Enclosed between high walls and a moat

Conjugation

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 clore (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		clore			avoir clos
gerund		en cloant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		cloant
past participle		clos
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	clo	cloz	clot	cloons	cloez	cloent
	imperfect	clooie, cloeie	clooies, cloeies	clooit, cloeit	cloïiens, cloïens	cloïiez, cloïez	clooient, cloeient
	preterite	clos	cloṣis	clost	cloṣimes	cloṣistes	closdrent
	future	clorai, clorrai	cloras, clorras	clora, clorra	clorons, clorrons	cloroiz, cloreiz, clorez, clorroiz, clorreiz, clorrez	cloront, clorront
	conditional	cloroie, cloreie, clorroie, clorreie	cloroies, cloreies, clorroies, clorreies	cloroit, cloreit, clorroit, clorreit	cloriiens, cloriens, clorriiens, clorriens	cloriiez, cloriez, clorriiez, clorriez	cloroient, cloreient, clorroient, clorreient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	cloe	cloes	cloe	cloons	cloez	cloent
	imperfect	cloṣisse	cloṣisses	cloṣist	cloṣissons, cloṣissiens	cloṣissoiz, cloṣissez, cloṣissiez	cloṣissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	clo	—	cloons	cloez	—

Related terms

• enclore

Descendants

• Middle French: clore
  • French: clore

Further reading

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (clore, supplement)

Portuguese

Verb

clore

1. inflection of clorar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

clore

1. inflection of clorar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative