vaincre

Inherited from Old French veintre, later veincre, vencre, inherited from Latin vincere, from Proto-Italic *winkō, from Proto-Indo-European *wi-n-k-, nasal infix from *weyk- (“to overcome”). The current pronunciation is influenced by the first-person singular indicative present form vincō. Compare also Spanish vencer.

• IPA^(key): /vɛ̃kʁ/

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vaincre

1. (transitive) to defeat, vanquish

   s’avouer vaincu ― to admit defeat; to give up

   • 1965 November, Carlo François, “Poésie d'André Marissel”, in The French Review, volume 39, number 2, American Association of Teachers of French, pages 265–274:

     Le jardinier-poète sait parfois qu’il est fécond et que son Arbre est fertile. Ne vainc-t-il pas la mort chaque fois qu’il plante un arbre-poème?

     The gardener-poet knows sometimes that he is fecund and that his Tree is fertile. Does he not defeat death every time he plants a tree-poem?

2. (intransitive) to win

This verb is conjugated like vendre, except that its usual stem vainqu- becomes vainc- when either there is no ending, or the ending starts with -u- or a written consonant. Additionally, when inverted the third person singular in the present adds the infix -t-: vainc-t-il? These are strictly spelling changes; pronunciation-wise, the verb is conjugated exactly like vendre.

• battre
• gagner
• surmonter
• triompher

• à vaincre sans péril, on triomphe sans gloire
• vaincu
• vainqueur

• convaincre
• évincer
• victoire
  • victorieux

• → Esperanto: venki

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