entendre

See also: entendré

English

Etymology

Extracted from double entendre, corresponding to French entendre (“to understand, to mean”); doublet of intend.

Noun

entendre (plural entendres)

1. A meaning, especially one that is implied rather than explicitly stated.
   • 1970, Eugene Wildman, Montezuma’s Ball, Chicago, Ill.: The Swallow Press Inc., →LCCN, page 82:

     Like Lon Chaney, this mind’s mummy lives—but beneath how many wrappings of multiple entendres?

   • 1986, San Francisco Focus, volume 33, page 105, column 2:

     “Come on baby let’s ride / slide on into your four-wheel-drive and ride,” the singer urges, conveying more entendres than two.

   • 1992, Julie Burchill, Sex & Sensibility, London: Grafton, →ISBN, page 38:

     Still, in pursuit of said Phantom Nympho, much fun had been had – and more entendres doubled than you could shake a stick at.

   • 1999 November–December, Joel Drucker, “King of the Ring: Let the Critics Snipe; Pro Wrestling Honcho Vince McMahon Will Tell You, ‘We’re About What People Want’”, in Cigar Aficionado‎, volume 7, number 6, archived from the original on 29 April 2020, page 135, column 2:

     Though he decries “egghead philosophers who try to tell us what we are,” even [Vince] McMahon notes a historical connection surrounding the evolution of WWF plot lines. In the 1980s, echoing the Cold War, it was mostly a matter of good guys versus bad guys. “Black and white, pretty simple,” he says. “But now we’re into more entendres, different shadings.”

   • 2009, Steven Helmling, Adorno’s Poetics of Critique (Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy)‎, Bloomsbury Academic, →ISBN:

     […] and double-, triple-, multiple-entendres of its very title already begin to dramatize, and with the effect of seeming to replicate the very miscarriage of ‘dialectic’ itself that is the crux of the book’s indictment of ‘enlightenment’.

   • 2010, The British Tradition (Prentice Hall Literature), Michigan teacher’s edition, volume 2, Prentice Hall, →ISBN, page 804:

     Ono Komachi was a prominent and gifted poet in her day. She was able to weave emotional intensity, multiple entendres, and metaphors together to form elegant poetry.

   • 2019, Allen Salkin, Aaron Short, quoting Conrad Riggs, The Method to the Madness: Donald Trump’s Ascent as Told by Those Who Were Hired, Fired, Inspired—and Inaugurated‎, New York, N.Y.: All Points Books, St. Martin’s Publishing Group, →ISBN:

     Survivor had been developed as Survive by Charlie Parsons. When I’d talk to people about it, they thought it sounded like a military thing or an athletic test of skill and strength. But it’s really a psychological and social experiment. “Survivor” had more entendres.

Usage notes

• Chiefly used in single entendre, double entendre, triple entendre, quadruple entendre, etc.

Anagrams

• entender, renneted

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin intendere (“to turn one’s attention, to strain”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ənˈten.dɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [enˈten.dɾe]

• Audio (Catalonia):

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Verb

entendre (first-person singular present entenc, first-person singular preterite entenguí, past participle entès); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

1. to understand

   Synonym: comprendre

   Antonym: malentendre

Conjugation

    Conjugation of entendre (second conjugation, irregular, with velar infix)

infinitive			entendre
gerund			entenent
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		entès		entesa
		plural		entesos		enteses
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	entenc	entens	entén	entenem	enteneu	entenen
	imperfect	entenia	entenies	entenia	enteníem	enteníeu	entenien
	future	entendré	entendràs	entendrà	entendrem	entendreu	entendran
	preterite	entenguí	entengueres	entengué	entenguérem	entenguéreu	entengueren
	conditional	entendria	entendries	entendria	entendríem	entendríeu	entendrien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	entengui	entenguis	entengui	entenguem	entengueu	entenguin
	imperfect	entengués	entenguessis	entengués	entenguéssim	entenguéssiu	entenguessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	entén	entengui	entenguem	enteneu	entenguin
	negative (no)	—	no entenguis	no entengui	no entenguem	no entengueu	no entenguin

Derived terms

• desentendre
• entenedor
• enteniment
• malentendre

Further reading

• “entendre”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “entendre”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “entendre” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “entendre” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French entendre and Old French entendre, from Latin intendere (“to turn one’s attention, to strain”). Cognate with Catalan entendre, Spanish entender, English intend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.tɑ̃dʁ/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

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• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Paris)):

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France):

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• Audio (France (Grenoble)):

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• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Hérault)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Massy)):

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• Hyphenation: en‧tendre

Verb

entendre

1. to hear
2. (intransitive) to be able to hear
3. (literary) to listen to
4. (formal) to mean

   Synonym: (informal) vouloir dire

   Qu'entendez-vous par là ? ― What do you mean by that?

   Qu'entendait-il par « attristé par la tranquilité » ? ― What does he mean by "saddened by the tranquility"?

5. (reflexive) to agree with each other
6. (reflexive) to have good relations with; to get on; to get along

   Je m'entends bien avec elle. ― I get along well with her.

   Si seulement mes enfants s’entendaient ! ― If only my kids got along!

7. (pronominal) to be good or competent at something

   s'y entendre en […] ― to be good at […]

8. (rare) to desire; to wish; to intend

   Synonym: désirer

   comme je l’entends ― as I wish

   J'entends bien régler cette question une bonne fois pour toutes. ― I fully intend to solve this issue once and for all.

9. (dated) to demand

   Synonym: exiger

10. (dated) to know

    Synonym: savoir

11. (archaic) to understand

    Synonym: comprendre

Conjugation

Conjugation of entendre (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	entendre
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	entendant /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		entendu /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dy/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	entends /ɑ̃.tɑ̃/	entends /ɑ̃.tɑ̃/	entend /ɑ̃.tɑ̃/	entendons /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɔ̃/	entendez /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.de/	entendent /ɑ̃.tɑ̃d/
	imperfect	entendais /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɛ/	entendais /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɛ/	entendait /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɛ/	entendions /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.djɔ̃/	entendiez /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dje/	entendaient /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɛ/
	past historic2	entendis /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di/	entendis /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di/	entendit /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di/	entendîmes /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dim/	entendîtes /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dit/	entendirent /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.diʁ/
	future	entendrai /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁe/	entendras /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁa/	entendra /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁa/	entendrons /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/	entendrez /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁe/	entendront /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	entendrais /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/	entendrais /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/	entendrait /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/	entendrions /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	entendriez /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁi.je/	entendraient /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/
(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	entende /ɑ̃.tɑ̃d/	entendes /ɑ̃.tɑ̃d/	entende /ɑ̃.tɑ̃d/	entendions /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.djɔ̃/	entendiez /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dje/	entendent /ɑ̃.tɑ̃d/
	imperfect2	entendisse /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dis/	entendisses /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dis/	entendît /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di/	entendissions /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di.sjɔ̃/	entendissiez /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di.sje/	entendissent /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	entends /ɑ̃.tɑ̃/	—	entendons /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɔ̃/	entendez /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.de/	—
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).

Conjugation of s'entendre (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	s'entendre
	compound	s'être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	s'entendant /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɑ̃/
	compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle		entendu /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dy/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	m'entends /mɑ̃.tɑ̃/	t'entends /tɑ̃.tɑ̃/	s'entend /sɑ̃.tɑ̃/	nous entendons /nu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɔ̃/	vous entendez /vu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.de/	s'entendent /sɑ̃.tɑ̃d/
	imperfect	m'entendais /mɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɛ/	t'entendais /tɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɛ/	s'entendait /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɛ/	nous entendions /nu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.djɔ̃/	vous entendiez /vu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dje/	s'entendaient /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɛ/
	past historic2	m'entendis /mɑ̃.tɑ̃.di/	t'entendis /tɑ̃.tɑ̃.di/	s'entendit /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.di/	nous entendîmes /nu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dim/	vous entendîtes /vu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dit/	s'entendirent /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.diʁ/
	future	m'entendrai /mɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁe/	t'entendras /tɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁa/	s'entendra /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁa/	nous entendrons /nu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/	vous entendrez /vu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁe/	s'entendront /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	m'entendrais /mɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/	t'entendrais /tɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/	s'entendrait /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/	nous entendrions /nu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	vous entendriez /vu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁi.je/	s'entendraient /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of s'être + past participle
	future perfect	future of s'être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of s'être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	m'entende /mɑ̃.tɑ̃d/	t'entendes /tɑ̃.tɑ̃d/	s'entende /sɑ̃.tɑ̃d/	nous entendions /nu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.djɔ̃/	vous entendiez /vu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dje/	s'entendent /sɑ̃.tɑ̃d/
	imperfect2	m'entendisse /mɑ̃.tɑ̃.dis/	t'entendisses /tɑ̃.tɑ̃.dis/	s'entendît /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.di/	nous entendissions /nu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di.sjɔ̃/	vous entendissiez /vu.z‿ɑ̃.tɑ̃.di.sje/	s'entendissent /sɑ̃.tɑ̃.dis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	entends-toi /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.twa/	—	entendons-nous /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dɔ̃.nu/	entendez-vous /ɑ̃.tɑ̃.de.vu/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	simple imperative of s'être + 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

• bien entendu
• ce qu’il ne faut pas entendre
• cela s’entend
• donner à entendre
• entendre des voix
• entendre dire
• entendre parler de
• entendre parler du pays
• entendre raison
• il n’est pire sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre
• laisser entendre
• l’entendre de cette oreille
• se faire entendre

See also

• double entendre

Further reading

• “entendre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• Comment-conjuguer.fr - online conjugation of “entendre”

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French entendre.

Verb

entendre

1. to hear
2. to understand

Descendants

• French: entendre

See also

• ouyr (“to hear”)

Occitan

Alternative forms

• entèndre (Mistralian)

Etymology

From Old Occitan, from Latin intendere (“to turn one’s attention, to strain”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Verb

entendre

1. to hear
2. to understand

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin intendere (“to turn one’s attention, to strain”).

Pronunciation

• (archaic) IPA^(key): /enˈtendɾə/
• IPA^(key): /anˈtandɾə/

Verb

entendre

1. to hear
2. to understand
   • 1377, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine), page 186 of this essay:

     tu dois entendre que matiere de lepre c’est humeur melencolique adusté

     you must understand that the matter that makes up leprosy is hot melancholic humor

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		entendre			avoir entendu
gerund		en entendant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		entendant
past participle		entendu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	entent	entenz	entent	entendons	entendez	entendent
	imperfect	entendoie, entendeie	entendoies, entendeies	entendoit, entendeit	entendiiens, entendiens	entendiiez, entendiez	entendoient, entendeient
	preterite	entendi	entendis	entendié	entendimes	entendistes	entendierent
	future	entendrai	entendras	entendra	entendrons	entendroiz, entendreiz, entendrez	entendront
	conditional	entendroie, entendreie	entendroies, entendreies	entendroit, entendreit	entendriiens, entendriens	entendriiez, entendriez	entendroient, entendreient
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	entende	entendes	entende	entendons	entendez	entendent
	imperfect	entendisse	entendisses	entendist	entendissons, entendissiens	entendissoiz, entendissez, entendissiez	entendissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	entent	—	entendons	entendez	—

Synonyms

• (hear): oïr

Descendants

• → Middle English: entenden, intenden
  • English: intend
• Middle French: entendre
  • French: entendre