rouiller

French

Etymology

First attested in Old French. From rouille +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁu.je/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

rouiller

1. to rust
2. (figuratively) to get rusty by lack of practise

Conjugation

Conjugation of rouiller (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	rouiller
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	rouillant /ʁu.jɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		rouillé /ʁu.je/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	rouille /ʁuj/	rouilles /ʁuj/	rouille /ʁuj/	rouillons /ʁu.jɔ̃/	rouillez /ʁu.je/	rouillent /ʁuj/
	imperfect	rouillais /ʁu.jɛ/	rouillais /ʁu.jɛ/	rouillait /ʁu.jɛ/	rouillions /ʁuj.jɔ̃/	rouilliez /ʁuj.je/	rouillaient /ʁu.jɛ/
	past historic2	rouillai /ʁu.je/	rouillas /ʁu.ja/	rouilla /ʁu.ja/	rouillâmes /ʁu.jam/	rouillâtes /ʁu.jat/	rouillèrent /ʁu.jɛʁ/
	future	rouillerai /ʁuj.ʁe/	rouilleras /ʁuj.ʁa/	rouillera /ʁuj.ʁa/	rouillerons /ʁuj.ʁɔ̃/	rouillerez /ʁuj.ʁe/	rouilleront /ʁuj.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	rouillerais /ʁuj.ʁɛ/	rouillerais /ʁuj.ʁɛ/	rouillerait /ʁuj.ʁɛ/	rouillerions /ʁu.jə.ʁjɔ̃/	rouilleriez /ʁu.jə.ʁje/	rouilleraient /ʁuj.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	rouille /ʁuj/	rouilles /ʁuj/	rouille /ʁuj/	rouillions /ʁuj.jɔ̃/	rouilliez /ʁuj.je/	rouillent /ʁuj/
	imperfect2	rouillasse /ʁu.jas/	rouillasses /ʁu.jas/	rouillât /ʁu.ja/	rouillassions /ʁu.ja.sjɔ̃/	rouillassiez /ʁu.ja.sje/	rouillassent /ʁu.jas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	rouille /ʁuj/	—	rouillons /ʁu.jɔ̃/	rouillez /ʁu.je/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In 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

• rouillé

Further reading

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

Middle French

Verb

rouiller

1. to rust (become rusty)

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of rouiller

infinitive	simple	rouiller
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	rouillant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		rouillé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	rouille	rouilles	rouille	rouillons	rouillez	rouillent
	imperfect	rouillois, rouilloys	rouillois, rouilloys	rouilloit, rouilloyt	rouillions, rouillyons	rouilliez, rouillyez	rouilloient, rouilloyent
	past historic	rouilla	rouillas	rouilla	rouillasmes	rouillastes	rouillerent
	future	rouillerai, rouilleray	rouilleras	rouillera	rouillerons	rouillerez	rouilleront
	conditional	rouillerois, rouilleroys	rouillerois, rouilleroys	rouilleroit, rouilleroyt	rouillerions, rouilleryons	rouilleriez, rouilleryez	rouilleroient, rouilleroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	rouille	rouilles	rouille	rouillons	rouillez	rouillent
	imperfect	rouillasse	rouillasses	rouillast	rouillassions	rouillassiez	rouillassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	rouille	—	rouillons	rouillez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The 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). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).