percier

Old French

Alternative forms

• percer, percher

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *pertūsiāre, from Latin pertūsus (“perforated”). The stressed stem pierc- is an analogical formation, the expected form would be *pertuis- (*jeo pertuis, *tu pertuises, ...).

Verb

percier

1. to pierce (to penetrate, chiefly using a sharpened point)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -ier, with a palatal stem. These verbs are conjugated mostly like verbs in -er, but there is an extra i before the e of some endings. The forms that would normally end in *-c, *-cs, *-ct are modified to z, z, zt. In addition, c becomes ç before an a, o or u to keep the /ts/ sound intact. This verb has a stressed present stem pierc distinct from the unstressed stem perc. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		percier			avoir percié
gerund		en perçant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		perçant
past participle		percié
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	pierz	pierces	pierce	perçons	perciez	piercent
	imperfect	perçoie, perceie, perçoe, percieve	perçoies, perceies, perçoes, percieves	perçoit, perceit, perçot, percieve	perciiens, perciens	perciiez, perciez	perçoient, perceient, perçoent, percievent
	preterite	perçai	perças	perça	perçames	perçastes	percierent
	future	percerai	perceras	percera	percerons	perceroiz, percereiz, percerez	perceront
	conditional	perceroie, percereie	perceroies, percereies	perceroit, percereit	perceriiens, perceriens	perceriiez, perceriez	perceroient, percereient
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	pierz	pierz	pierzt	perçons	perciez	piercent
	imperfect	perçasse	perçasses	perçast	percissons, percissiens	percissoiz, percissez, percissiez	perçassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	pierce	—	perçons	perciez	—

Descendants

• → English: pierce
• French: percer
• Sicilian: pirciari