moquer

From Middle French mocquer, from Old French moquer, from Middle Dutch mocken (“to mumble”) or Middle Low German mucken (“to grumble, speak with half-opened mouth”), both from Old Saxon *mokkian, *mukkian (“to low, mumble”), from Proto-Germanic *mukkijaną, *mūhaną (“to low, bellow, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *mūg-, *mūk- (“to low, mumble”).

Cognate with Old High German firmucken (“to be stupid”), Old High German muckazzen (“to speak quietly, say a word”) (Modern German mucksen). More at mock.

• IPA^(key): /mɔ.ke/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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moquer

1. (transitive, literary) to mock
2. (reflexive) to make fun (of someone) [with de]
3. (reflexive) to be indifferent; to not care (about something) [with de]
   • 1943, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, chapter VII, in Le petit prince [The Little Prince], New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 31:

     Je me moquais bien de mon marteau, de mon boulon, de la soif et de la mort. Il y avait, sur une étoile, une planète, la mienne, la Terre, un petit prince à consoler !

     Of what moment now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death? On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, there was a little prince to be comforted.

• → German: mokieren

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

Middle Dutch mokken (“to mumble”) or Middle Low German mucken (“to grumble”), probably ultimately imitative.

moquer

1. (reflexive, se moquer) to mock; to make fun of

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-qu, *-qus, *-qut are modified to c, s, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

• → Middle English: mocken
  • English: mock
• Middle French: mocquer
  • French: moquer
    • → German: mokieren