enterrer

See also: entèrrer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French enterrer, from Old French enterrer, from Vulgar Latin *interrāre (“to put into earth”), from Latin terra. Equivalent to en- (“into”) +‎ terre (“earth”) +‎ -er (infinitive marker). Cognate with English inter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁe/ ~ /ɑ̃.te.ʁe/

  • Audio:

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• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.te.re/
• Rhymes: -e
• Homophones: enterré, enterrée, enterrées, enterrés, enterrez

Verb

enterrer

1. to bury (put underground); to inter
   • 2010, Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French as Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities, page 252:

     Là, un jour, Geneviève est morte. Et ils ont parti l’enterrer.

     Then one day, Geneviève died. And they left to bury her.

2. to ditch, to bury (a plan, a memory, a legislative proposal, etc.)
3. (by extension, figurative, familiar) to outlive, to survive (someone)
   • 2025 November 5, Projet Voltaire, “Égrotant, cacochyme, valétudinaire”, in YouTube‎, retrieved 14 November 2025:

     [Voltaire] les a tous enterrés en mourant à l'âge de... 83 ans.

     [Voltaire] outlived them all by dying at the age of... 83.

4. (figurative) to hide

   enterrer son secret

   to hide one's secret

   L’avare enterre ses trésors au lieu d’en jouir.

   The miser hides his treasures instead of enjoying them.

5. (figurative, familiar) to enjoy something before it is gone

   enterrer sa vie de garçon

   to celebrate one's stag/bachelor party

   (literally, “to bury one's boy's life”)

6. (pronominal, figurative) to seclude oneself, to withdraw from the world to live in a remote location
7. (pronominal, equestrianism) (of a horse) to carry the head very low

Conjugation

Conjugation of enterrer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	enterrer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	enterrant /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɑ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		enterré /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	enterre /ɑ̃.tɛʁ/	enterres /ɑ̃.tɛʁ/	enterre /ɑ̃.tɛʁ/	enterrons /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɔ̃/	enterrez /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁe/	enterrent /ɑ̃.tɛʁ/
	imperfect	enterrais /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛ/	enterrais /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛ/	enterrait /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛ/	enterrions /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁjɔ̃/	enterriez /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁje/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁje/	enterraient /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛ/
	past historic2	enterrai /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁe/	enterras /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa/	enterra /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa/	enterrâmes /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁam/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁam/	enterrâtes /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁat/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁat/	enterrèrent /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɛʁ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɛʁ/
	future	enterrerai /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁe/	enterreras /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁa/	enterrera /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁa/	enterrerons /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/	enterrerez /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁe/	enterreront /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	enterrerais /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɛ/	enterrerais /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɛ/	enterrerait /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁɛ/	enterrerions /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/	enterreriez /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁje/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.ʁje/	enterreraient /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁə.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	enterre /ɑ̃.tɛʁ/	enterres /ɑ̃.tɛʁ/	enterre /ɑ̃.tɛʁ/	enterrions /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁjɔ̃/	enterriez /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁje/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁje/	enterrent /ɑ̃.tɛʁ/
	imperfect2	enterrasse /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁas/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁas/	enterrasses /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁas/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁas/	enterrât /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa/	enterrassions /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa.sjɔ̃/	enterrassiez /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁa.sje/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁa.sje/	enterrassent /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁas/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	enterre /ɑ̃.tɛʁ/	—	enterrons /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁɔ̃/	enterrez /ɑ̃.tɛ.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.te.ʁe/	—
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

• désenterrer
• enterrable
• enterrement
• enterrer la hache de guerre
• enterrer sa vie de garçon
• inenterrable
• mort et enterré
• réenterrer

Related terms

• terre (“earth”)

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• errèrent

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French enterrer, from Vulgar Latin *interrāre (“to put into earth”).

Verb

enterrer

1. to bury (in the Earth)

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of enterrer

infinitive	simple	enterrer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	enterrant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		enterré
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	enterre	enterres	enterre	enterrons	enterrez	enterrent
	imperfect	enterrois, enterroys	enterrois, enterroys	enterroit, enterroyt	enterrions, enterryons	enterriez, enterryez	enterroient, enterroyent
	past historic	enterra	enterras	enterra	enterrasmes	enterrastes	enterrerent
	future	enterrerai, enterreray	enterreras	enterrera	enterrerons	enterrerez	enterreront
	conditional	enterrerois, enterreroys	enterrerois, enterreroys	enterreroit, enterreroyt	enterrerions, enterreryons	enterreriez, enterreryez	enterreroient, enterreroyent
(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	enterre	enterres	enterre	enterrons	enterrez	enterrent
	imperfect	enterrasse	enterrasses	enterrast	enterrassions	enterrassiez	enterrassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	enterre	—	enterrons	enterrez	—
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).

Synonyms

• inhumer

Descendants

• French: enterrer

Old French

Alternative forms

• enterer

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *interrāre (“to put into earth”), from Latin terra.

Verb

enterrer

1. to bury (in the Earth)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-rr, *-rrs, *-rrt are modified to r, rs, rt. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		enterrer			avoir enterré
gerund		en enterrant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		enterrant
past participle		enterré
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	enter	enterres	enterre	enterrons	enterrez	enterrent
	imperfect	enterroie, enterreie, enterroe, enterreve	enterroies, enterreies, enterroes, enterreves	enterroit, enterreit, enterrot, enterreve	enterriiens, enterriens	enterriiez, enterriez	enterroient, enterreient, enterroent, enterrevent
	preterite	enterrai	enterras	enterra	enterrames	enterrastes	enterrerent
	future	enterrerai	enterreras	enterrera	enterrerons	enterreroiz, enterrereiz, enterrerez	enterreront
	conditional	enterreroie, enterrereie	enterreroies, enterrereies	enterreroit, enterrereit	enterreriiens, enterreriens	enterreriiez, enterreriez	enterreroient, enterrereient
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	enter	enters	entert	enterrons	enterrez	enterrent
	imperfect	enterrasse	enterrasses	enterrast	enterrissons, enterrissiens	enterrissoiz, enterrissez, enterrissiez	enterrassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	enterre	—	enterrons	enterrez	—

Descendants

• Middle French: enterrer
  • French: enterrer
• Norman: entèrrer (Jersey)
• → Middle English: enteren
  • English: inter, enter (obsolete, pre-Latinised spelling)