comparoir

French

Etymology

From Latin comparere. Doublet of comparaître.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.pa.ʁwaʁ/
• Rhymes: -waʁ

Verb

comparoir (defective) (present participle comparant)

1. to appear before a court; to be arraigned
   • 1880, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Les Soirées de Médan‎, page 109:

     Aussitôt que j’eus achevé mes études, mes parents jugèrent utile de me faire comparoir devant une table habillée de drap vert et surmontée de bustes de vieux messieurs qui s’inquiétèrent de savoir si j’avais appris assez de langue morte pour être promu au grade de bachelier.

     As soon as I was finished with my studies, my parents deemed it useful that I arraign myself before a green draped table, surmonted by the busts of old gentlemen who were eager to know if I had learnt enough dead language to be promoted to the grade of bachelier.

Usage notes

• Only ever used in the infinitive &, in part the present participle.

References

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

Old French

Etymology

From Latin comparere.

Verb

comparoir

1. to appear before a court; to be arraigned
2. to compare; to be comparable