jouir

Jouir is a French verb meaning to enjoy or to derive pleasure from something, and it can also denote sexual orgasm in informal or vulgar contexts. In its general sense, it collocates with the preposition de to indicate what is being enjoyed: e.g., elle jouit d’une excellente réputation (she enjoys an excellent reputation) or il jouit de la vie (he enjoys life). The sexual sense is widely understood in many francophone communities but is often regarded as crude or intimate, depending on context and register.

Etymology and usage context: jouir derives from Old French joir, from Latin gaudere, related to the noun joie (joy). It is a transitive verb in the sense of “to enjoy something” and typically framed as jouer avec de or de + noun in modern usage: jouir de quelque chose. The verb appears in both formal and informal styles, though the sexual sense tends to appear in more intimate or explicit contexts.

Conjugation and forms: jouir is a regular -ir verb in most tenses. In the present tense it is conjugated as je jouis, tu jouis, il jouit, nous jouissons, vous jouissez, ils jouissent. The past participle is joui, and compound tenses are formed with the auxiliary avoir (e.g., j’ai joui de son succès). Imparfait: je jouissais; futur: je jouirai; conditionnel: je jouirais. The verb also has a subjunctive form: que je jouisse.

See also: related phrases include profiter de, prendre plaisir à, and the more clinical alternative pour “orgasm” in sexual contexts, such as atteindre l’orgasme.