French word

écarter

Pronunciation

IPA/ekaʁte/

Meaning

  • verbmove aside

Example

Elle écarte son manteau pour s'asseoir.

She moves her coat aside to sit down.

Illustration for écarter (move aside)

More examples

Ils ont écarté les tables pour faire de la place.

They moved the tables aside to make room.

Core concept

Hands or objects part something from a center, leaving space between its sides or excluding it from consideration.

Common phrases

  • écarter les chaises

    move the chairs aside

  • écarter un argument

    reject an argument

Similar words

séparer: Separate things that are together into distinct parts.
pousser: Push something by applying force.
éloigner: Move something away by a certain distance.
enlever: Remove something from its original place.

Definition in French

Écarter quelque chose pour augmenter l'espace ou séparer des éléments, c'est-à-dire créer un écart; sens figuré : rejeter ou écarter une hypothèse.

Word origin

The verb comes from Old French escarter and is linked to escart, a word for separation or distance; its meaning developed from physical spacing to rejection.

Usage tips

  • In phrases such as écarter une hypothèse, the verb means 'rule out', whereas écarter son manteau describes opening or moving the garment aside.

Other meanings

  • excludeverb
  • spread apartverb

Opposites

Related words

  • écartementspacingnoun
  • écartéseparatedadjective

Word lists with this word