sécouer

sécouer is a French verb meaning “to shake, to jolt, to agitate.” It belongs to the third‑person group of verbs ending in –er and is conjugated like other regular –er verbs (je secoue, tu secoues, il/elle secoue, nous secouons, vous secouez, ils/elles secouent). The past participle is secoué, used with auxiliary avoir to form compound tenses (il a secoué, ils ont été secoués). In its reflexive form, se secouer, the verb conveys the idea of stirring oneself or causing a sudden movement, often figuratively (se secouer pour se réveiller).

The term derives from the Old French secouer, itself a compound of se‑ (a reflexive particle) and coudre, originally “to spin” or “to weave.” Over time the sense shifted toward the modern notion of shaking an object or a person. The noun secousse, “a shake or jolt,” shares the same root and appears in both literal contexts (a shaking of the ground during an earthquake) and figurative ones (une secousse économique, an economic shock).

In contemporary French, sécouer is used in a range of registers. In everyday speech it may describe physical actions (secouer une bouteille, secouer la tête) or figurative disturbances (secouer des habitudes, secouer le système). The verb also appears in idiomatic expressions such as « un coup de sécou… », though less commonly than related forms like secouer. Literary usage often exploits the vivid, kinetic connotation of the verb to evoke sudden change or disruption.