cédait

Cédait is the third-person singular imperfect indicative form of the French verb céder, meaning to yield, give in, or surrender. In this form, it conveys an action that was ongoing, habitual, or backgrounded in the past, or a past state described in narrative. The infinitive céder comes from Latin cedere, “to go, yield,” and the word shares an underlying sense of giving way or transferring.

Morphology and usage

Céder is a regular -er verb with stem changes in some tenses. In the imperfect, the ending is -ait for the third person singular, yielding cédait. The word can be transitive, as in il cédait sa place (he was yielding his place), or intransitive when paired with phrases like céder le passage (to yield the way). It can also describe physical or abstract yielding, such as a structure giving way or a person yielding to pressure.

Semantics and idioms

Common senses include yielding to pressure, temptation, or arguments; conceding in negotiations; or physically giving way under weight or strain. Related forms include the past participle cédé (yielded, given) and the noun concession. In literary and historical writing, cédait often appears to set a scene of conflict, fatigue, or change in state.

Examples

- Il cédait sous la pression des arguments. (He was yielding to the pressure of the arguments.)

- La passerelle cédait au vent. (The footbridge was yielding to the wind.)

See also

Céder; cédé; concession; céder le pas. The entry notes the distinction between the imperfect cédait and other tenses such as cède (present) or cédai (past historic in older texts).

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