plier

English

Etymology

Fromply+‎-er.

Pronunciation

• Audio(US):

  (file)

Noun

plier(pluralpliers)

1. One whoplies.
2. attributiveform ofpliers

   a 3-pieceplierkit

Derived terms

• plier wrenches

See also

• pliers(plurale tantum)

Anagrams

• peril,piler,prile

French

Etymology

InheritedfromLatinplicāre.This producedOld Frenchploiier,pleierinOld French,which was later changed analogically under the influence of the stressed stempli-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/pli.je/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

plier

1. (transitive)tofold(bend (something) over; arrange by folding)
2. tofold up
3. tobend
4. tomess up;todo in;todamage
5. (figuratively)tokill,kill off(a game)

Conjugation

Conjugation ofplier(see alsoAppendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	plier
	compound	avoir+ past participle
present participleorgerund1	simple	pliant /pli.jɑ̃/
	compound	ayant+ past participle
past participle		plié /pli.je/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	plie /pli/	plies /pli/	plie /pli/	plions /pli.jɔ̃/	pliez /pli.je/	plient /pli/
	imperfect	pliais /pli.jɛ/	pliais /pli.jɛ/	pliait /pli.jɛ/	pliions /pli.jɔ̃/	pliiez /pli.je/	pliaient /pli.jɛ/
	past historic2	pliai /pli.je/	plias /pli.ja/	plia /pli.ja/	pliâmes /pli.jam/	pliâtes /pli.jat/	plièrent /pli.jɛʁ/
	future	plierai /pli.ʁe/	plieras /pli.ʁa/	pliera /pli.ʁa/	plierons /pli.ʁɔ̃/	plierez /pli.ʁe/	plieront /pli.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	plierais /pli.ʁɛ/	plierais /pli.ʁɛ/	plierait /pli.ʁɛ/	plierions /pli.ʁjɔ̃/	plieriez /pli.ʁje/	plieraient /pli.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative ofavoir+ past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative ofavoir+ past participle
	past anterior2	past historic ofavoir+ past participle
	future perfect	future ofavoir+ past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional ofavoir+ past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	plie /pli/	plies /pli/	plie /pli/	pliions /pli.jɔ̃/	pliiez /pli.je/	plient /pli/
	imperfect2	pliasse /pli.jas/	pliasses /pli.jas/	pliât /pli.ja/	pliassions /pli.ja.sjɔ̃/	pliassiez /pli.ja.sje/	pliassent /pli.jas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive ofavoir+ past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive ofavoir+ past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	plie /pli/	—	plions /pli.jɔ̃/	pliez /pli.je/	—
compound		—	simple imperative ofavoir+ past participle	—	simple imperative ofavoir+ past participle	simple imperative ofavoir+ past participle	—
1The French gerund is usable only with the prepositionen.
2In 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

• déplier
• plier bagage
• replier
• se plier en quatre

Related terms

• ployer

Further reading

• “plier”,inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language],2012.

Anagrams

• péril,piler,repli

Maltese

Etymology

From Italo-Romance (compareItalianpiliere), fromOld Frenchpiler,fromVulgar Latin*pilāre,derived frompila.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/plɪːr/

Noun

plierm(pluralplieri)

1. pillar

   Synonym:kolonna

Middle French

Etymology

Modified fromOld Frenchpleier,ploiierunder the influence of the stressed stempli-.

Verb

plier

1. tofold

Conjugation

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

Conjugation ofplier

infinitive	simple	plier
	compound	avoir+ past participle
present participle1orgerund2	simple	pliant
	compound	present participle or gerund ofavoir+ past participle
past participle		plié
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	plie	plies	plie	plions	pliez	plient
	imperfect	pliois,plioys	pliois,plioys	plioit,plioyt	pliions,pliyons	pliiez,pliyez	plioient,plioyent
	past historic	plia	plias	plia	pliasmes	pliastes	plierent
	future	plierai,plieray	plieras	pliera	plierons	plierez	plieront
	conditional	plierois,plieroys	plierois,plieroys	plieroit,plieroyt	plierions,plieryons	plieriez,plieryez	plieroient,plieroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative ofavoir+ past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative ofavoir+ past participle
	past anterior	past historic ofavoir+ past participle
	future perfect	future ofavoir+ past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional ofavoir+ past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	plie	plies	plie	plions	pliez	plient
	imperfect	pliasse	pliasses	pliast	pliassions	pliassiez	pliassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive ofavoir+ past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive ofavoir+ past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	plie	—	plions	pliez	—
compound		—	simple imperative ofavoir+ past participle	—	simple imperative ofavoir+ past participle	simple imperative ofavoir+ past participle	—
1The 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). TheFrench Academywould eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with prepositionen,as inModern French,although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995],op. cit.,p.180).

Descendants

• French:plier