détudiant

Détudiant is a French noun that denotes a person who studies, typically at a university or other higher education institution. In standard modern French, the usual form is étudier for the verb and étudiante (feminine) or étudiant (masculine) as the noun. The plural forms are étudiants and étudiantes. The form détudiant is not widely recognized as a standard word and is generally considered nonstandard, obsolete, or a misspelling rather than a distinct lexical item.

Etymology and form: The common noun étudient/étudiant derives from Old French estudent, itself from Latin studēns meaning “studying,” from studium meaning “zeal, study.” The prefix dé- does not participate in the ordinary formation of this noun, so détudiant does not represent a regular historical variant. In everyday usage, détudiant is not treated as an accepted synonym of étudiant.

Usage and notes: In contemporary French, speakers almost always use étudiant or étudiante to refer to a student. The gendered forms reflect natural gender, and there is no separate plural form built on détudiant; one says des étudiants or des étudiantes depending on gender. If détudiant appears, it is typically due to a spelling error, a mistaken form, or, in rare cases, an archaic or regional variant not common in standard usage.

See also: étudiante, vie étudiante, études.