tutoyer

[ too-twah-yey; French ty-twa-yey ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

tutoyered or tutoyed [too-twah-, yeyd],tutoyering [too-twah-, yey, -ing].

to address (someone), especially in French, using the familiar forms of the pronoun “you” rather than the more formal forms; address familiarly.

Origin of tutoyer¹

1690–1700; < French, to address as tu and toi (the familiar singular forms for “you” in French)

I was half inclined to array myself in drab, and tutoyer the first of the body I chanced to encounter in my walks abroad.

And it depends a great deal upon circumstances whether it is affection or insult to tutoyer a stranger.

I should not have recognized her, and I don't dare to tutoyer the young lady!

And during the sixteen months of his studentship he grew sufficiently familiar with some of his fellow-students even to tutoyer.

April 17, 2024axolotl

[ak-suh-lot-l ]

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