décarter

Décarter is a French verb that covers several related notions centered on creating distance or separation. In its most concrete sense, it means to move something or someone aside or away in order to open space or to disengage from a path. It can also be used figuratively to indicate removing someone or something from a group or from consideration, that is, to exclude or rule out.

The verb is transitive and most often used with a direct object. It is formed from the base écarter with the prefix dé-, reinforcing the sense of separation or removal. In everyday use it behaves like a regular -er verb: je décarte, tu décartes, il/elle décarte, nous décartons, vous décartez, ils/elles décartent; passé composé: j'ai décarté; participe passé: décarté.

Examples of usage include physical space changes such as décarter les rideaux to draw the curtains aside, or décarter des objets to place them apart. Figuratively, it appears in phrases such as décarter une hypothèse to discard an hypothesis, or décarter quelqu’un de ses fonctions to remove someone from their duties. In sports or strategy contexts, it can describe widening the space or diverting an opponent, as in décarter le jeu sur les ailes or décarter l’adversaire.

See also: écarter, which shares the core meaning of separation but without the prefix, and se décaler, which is used for shifting oneself aside. Décarter thus functions as a versatile term for physical and figurative distancing, emphasizing the act of creating space or removing from consideration.