le mort
death · dead
C’est l’état dans lequel un être vivant cesse de respirer et de bouger, quand la vie s’arrête complètement.
Definition & meaning
Mort has several related uses:
- As a feminine noun, la mort means death—the end of life, or the state of being dead.
- As an adjective, mort means dead. It is masculine; the feminine form is morte . For example, un arbre mort means “a dead tree.”
- As a masculine noun, un mort means a dead person or the deceased; une morte means a deceased woman.
- Mort is also the past participle of mourir , “to die,” as in il est mort (“he died” or “he is dead”).
The exact meaning depends on its grammatical role and context.
Grammar & Word origin
The noun mort is feminine: la mort. The adjective agrees with the noun it describes: mort (masculine singular), morte (feminine singular), morts (masculine plural), and mortes (feminine plural).
The word comes from Latin mors, meaning “death,” and is closely related to the French verb mourir . It has no productive prefix or suffix in modern French.
Synonyms & antonyms
- décès — “death” or “passing”; generally more formal or tactful than mort when referring to someone’s death.
- trépas — “death”; literary or old-fashioned in tone.
- disparition — “disappearance” or, euphemistically, someone’s death. Unlike mort, it does not always mean that a person has died.
- vie — “life,” the main antonym of mort as a noun.
- vivant — “alive” or “living,” an antonym of mort as an adjective.
Common phrases & collocations
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Examples
Sa mort a surpris tout le monde.noun
His death surprised everyone.
Le poisson est mort.adjective
The fish is dead.
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