traicter

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French treter, tretier, traitier, traiter, from Latin tractō, tractāre (“to pull, manage”), from the past participle stem of trahō (“to draw, pull”).

Verb

traicter

1. to treat (a certain way)
   • 1534, François Rabelais, Gargantua:

     Ce fait, Gymnaste se retyre, considerant que les cas de hazart iamais ne fault poursuyvre iusques a leur periode et qu'il convient a tous chevaliers reverentement traicter leur bonne fortune

     This done, Gymnast left, considering that one should never follow a fluke to the end of its process, and that all knights should treat their good luck modestly.

2. (of a topic) to treat
   • 1595, Michel de Montaigne, Essais, book II, chapter 10:

     il faut feuilleter sans distinction toutes sortes d’autheurs et vieils et nouveaux, et barragouins et François, pour y apprendre les choses, dequoy diversement ils traictent.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of traicter

infinitive	simple	traicter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	tractant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		tracté
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	tracte	tractes	tracte	tractons	tractez	tractent
	imperfect	tractois, tractoys	tractois, tractoys	tractoit, tractoyt	tractions, tractyons	tractiez, tractyez	tractoient, tractoyent
	past historic	tracta	tractas	tracta	tractasmes	tractastes	tracterent
	future	tracterai, tracteray	tracteras	tractera	tracterons	tracterez	tracteront
	conditional	tracterois, tracteroys	tracterois, tracteroys	tracteroit, tracteroyt	tracterions, tracteryons	tracteriez, tracteryez	tracteroient, tracteroyent
(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	tracte	tractes	tracte	tractons	tractez	tractent
	imperfect	tractasse	tractasses	tractast	tractassions	tractassiez	tractassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	tracte	—	tractons	tractez	—
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).

Descendants

• French: traiter