naquit

Naquit is a form of the French verb naître, meaning to be born. Specifically, it is the third-person singular form in the passé simple (the past historic), used with subjects such as il or elle: il naquit.

The passé simple is a literary tense that appears mainly in written, especially historical or narrative, texts. In everyday contemporary French, people typically use the passé composé (il est né) instead of the passé simple. As a result, naquit is considered archaic or formal in modern usage, though it remains common in classic novels and older documents.

Conjugation context for naître in the passé simple includes: je naquis, tu naquis, il naquit, nous naquîmes, vous naquîtes, ils naquirent. The third-person singular form, naquit, is the form most often seen in texts written in this tense.

Etymologically, naître derives from the Latin nasci, natus, the root of related words in many Romance languages. The form naquit is an old-fashioned spelling that reflects historical pronunciation and orthography.

Usage notes: naquit appears primarily in literary, historical, or ceremonial contexts. When quoting older chronicles or literary works, you may encounter il naquit; in modern prose or speech, preferred alternatives are il est né or il est né de, depending on the construction.

Examples: Il naquit dans une province reculée; Elle naquit sous une étoile peu favorable. These sentences illustrate how the form situates a birth within a narrative voice rather than everyday narration.