Incendiés

Incendiés is the plural form of incendié, the past participle of incendier, used in French as an adjective and occasionally as a noun. It designates something that has been set on fire or burned. The term most commonly appears with inanimate referents, especially buildings, vehicles, or other structures described as incendiés after a fire—for example, immeubles incendiés or véhicules incendiés. It can also describe materials that have been damaged by fire.

When referring to people, incendiés is uncommon and can be stylistically awkward; journalists and legal texts usually prefer expressions such as les victimes de l’incendie or les personnes brûlées depending on the context. In such cases, other terminology is typically used to avoid ambiguous or graphic phrasing.

Etymology and nuance: incendiés derives from incendie (fire), via the verb incendier, with the suffix -é marking the past participle. In usage, it functions similarly to other past-participle adjectives such as endommagé or détruit. It should not be confused with incendiaire, which refers to an arsonist or incendiary device.

In historical and contemporary reporting, the form is used to indicate damage by fire. It is not a term for the act of causing a fire; that act is described with incendier or commettre un incendie, and a person who commits arson is an incendiaire.

Related terms include incendie, incendiaire, brûlé, and dommages, which cover fire, arson, burned status, and fire-related damages.