compasser

English

Etymology

From compass +‎ -er.

Noun

compasser (plural compassers)

1. One who or that which compasses.
   • 1866, Henry Smith, Thomas Fuller, The Sermons of Mr. Henry Smith, page 37:

     If men have so many sleights to compass their matters, how can the compasser himself hold his fingers?

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.pa.se/ ~ /kɔ̃.pɑ.se/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

compasser

1. to compass (measure with a compass)

Conjugation

Conjugation of compasser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	compasser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	compassant /kɔ̃.pa.sɑ̃/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		compassé /kɔ̃.pa.se/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	compasse /kɔ̃.pas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑs/	compasses /kɔ̃.pas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑs/	compasse /kɔ̃.pas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑs/	compassons /kɔ̃.pa.sɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sɔ̃/	compassez /kɔ̃.pa.se/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.se/	compassent /kɔ̃.pas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑs/
	imperfect	compassais /kɔ̃.pa.sɛ/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sɛ/	compassais /kɔ̃.pa.sɛ/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sɛ/	compassait /kɔ̃.pa.sɛ/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sɛ/	compassions /kɔ̃.pa.sjɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sjɔ̃/	compassiez /kɔ̃.pa.sje/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sje/	compassaient /kɔ̃.pa.sɛ/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sɛ/
	past historic2	compassai /kɔ̃.pa.se/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.se/	compassas /kɔ̃.pa.sa/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sa/	compassa /kɔ̃.pa.sa/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sa/	compassâmes /kɔ̃.pa.sam/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sam/	compassâtes /kɔ̃.pa.sat/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sat/	compassèrent /kɔ̃.pa.sɛʁ/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sɛʁ/
	future	compasserai /kɔ̃.pa.sʁe/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁe/	compasseras /kɔ̃.pa.sʁa/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁa/	compassera /kɔ̃.pa.sʁa/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁa/	compasserons /kɔ̃.pa.sʁɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁɔ̃/	compasserez /kɔ̃.pa.sʁe/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁe/	compasseront /kɔ̃.pa.sʁɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁɔ̃/
	conditional	compasserais /kɔ̃.pa.sʁɛ/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁɛ/	compasserais /kɔ̃.pa.sʁɛ/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁɛ/	compasserait /kɔ̃.pa.sʁɛ/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁɛ/	compasserions /kɔ̃.pa.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	compasseriez /kɔ̃.pa.sə.ʁje/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sə.ʁje/	compasseraient /kɔ̃.pa.sʁɛ/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sʁɛ/
(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	compasse /kɔ̃.pas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑs/	compasses /kɔ̃.pas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑs/	compasse /kɔ̃.pas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑs/	compassions /kɔ̃.pa.sjɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sjɔ̃/	compassiez /kɔ̃.pa.sje/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sje/	compassent /kɔ̃.pas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑs/
	imperfect2	compassasse /kɔ̃.pa.sas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sas/	compassasses /kɔ̃.pa.sas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sas/	compassât /kɔ̃.pa.sa/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sa/	compassassions /kɔ̃.pa.sa.sjɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sa.sjɔ̃/	compassassiez /kɔ̃.pa.sa.sje/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sa.sje/	compassassent /kɔ̃.pa.sas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	compasse /kɔ̃.pas/ or /kɔ̃.pɑs/	—	compassons /kɔ̃.pa.sɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.sɔ̃/	compassez /kɔ̃.pa.se/ or /kɔ̃.pɑ.se/	—
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

• compassement
• compasseur

References

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

Further reading

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

Old French

Verb

compasser

1. to compass (measure with a compass)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-sss, *-sst are modified to s, s, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of compasser (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		compasser			avoir compassé
gerund		en compassant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		compassant
past participle		compassé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	compas	compasses	compasse	compassons	compassez	compassent
	imperfect	compassoie, compasseie, compassoe, compasseve	compassoies, compasseies, compassoes, compasseves	compassoit, compasseit, compassot, compasseve	compassiiens, compassiens	compassiiez, compassiez	compassoient, compasseient, compassoent, compassevent
	preterite	compassai	compassas	compassa	compassames	compassastes	compasserent
	future	compasserai	compasseras	compassera	compasserons	compasseroiz, compassereiz, compasserez	compasseront
	conditional	compasseroie, compassereie	compasseroies, compassereies	compasseroit, compassereit	compasseriiens, compasseriens	compasseriiez, compasseriez	compasseroient, compassereient
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	compas	compas	compast	compassons	compassez	compassent
	imperfect	compassasse	compassasses	compassast	compassissons, compassissiens	compassissoiz, compassissez, compassissiez	compassassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	compasse	—	compassons	compassez	—

References

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