Mouvoir

Mouvoir is a French verb meaning to move, to set in motion, or more broadly to provoke movement or action. In contemporary use it is relatively rare in everyday speech, with bouger (to move) and remuer (to stir) serving as common equivalents for physical movement, and émouvoir used for emotional impact. In literary or formal contexts, mouvoir can appear in phrases such as mouvoir les esprits (to move minds) or à mouvoir à l’action. The reflexive form s’émouvoir means to become moved or to be touched emotionally.

Etymology and forms: Mouvoir derives from Latin movere, via Old French mouver/mouvoir. It shares a root with English move and Spanish mover. The verb is irregular and its forms vary across tenses; the present participle is mouvant, and the emotional variant émouvant is used as an adjective meaning moving or touching. The past participle of émouvoir is ému, as in j’ai été ému.

Usage notes: For physical movement, French speakers typically prefer bouger; mouvoir tends to appear in literary or historical writing or in phrases that emphasize strategy or rhetoric. Emouvoir is widely used in modern French to express emotional effect (e.g., Ce récit m’a ému). The reflexive s’émouvoir covers personal emotional response, while remouvoir or émouvoir are common alternatives depending on nuance.

Derivatives and related forms: émouvoir (to move emotionally), remouvoir (to stir up), mouvement (movement), émoi (emotion or stir).

Examples: Elle s’est émue en entendant la nouvelle. Le discours a ému l’auditoire. Le philosophe cherchait à mouvoir les esprits par son raisonnement.