abêtir

From a- +‎ bête +‎ -ir.

• IPA^(key): /a.bɛ.tiʁ/ ~ /a.be.tiʁ/

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abêtir

1. (transitive, intransitive, ergative) to dumb down, render dumb, dim-witted; to deaden the mind of
2. (reflexive, ergative) to become dim-witted and foolish

• Abrutir is a close synonym, but unlike that term abêtir implies a slower, progressive process, which abrutir does not necessarily do.

This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.

• abêtissant
• abêtissement

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

• abrite, abrité