French word

adonner

Pronunciation

IPA/adone/

Meaning

  • verbdevote oneself to

Example

Je m'adonne à la lecture tous les soirs.

I devote myself to reading every evening.

Illustration for adonner (devote oneself to)

More examples

Chaque dimanche, il s'adonne au cyclisme.

Every Sunday, he devotes himself to cycling.

Core concept

A person's time and energy flowing steadily into one chosen pursuit.

Common phrases

  • s'adonner à la lecture

    devote oneself to reading

  • s'adonner au sport

    devote oneself to sports

  • s'adonner à la musique

    devote oneself to music

Similar words

se passionner: To become deeply interested in something and absorbed in it.
s'investir: To invest substantial time and effort in an activity or job.
se consacrer: To devote nearly all one's time and energy to something as a priority.
se plonger: To immerse oneself in an activity or book and forget the outside world.

Definition in French

s'adonner à quelque chose : se consacrer à une activité par plaisir ou par habitude, en y passant régulièrement du temps.

Word origin

The French verb donner comes from Latin donare through older French forms, while the reflexive construction s'adonner à developed the sense of devoting oneself to an activity.

Usage tips

  • S'adonner à is more formal than many everyday alternatives, so se passionner pour is often more natural in casual conversation.

Other meanings

  • be absorbed inverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word