Écheoir

Écheoir is a French verb that means to fall due, to be due, or to occur. It is chiefly found in literary, historical, or formal contexts and is generally considered archaic or stylistically marked in modern French. The sense often conveys that a matter or obligation comes to a person, or that a date or event arrives for someone to address.

Etymology and related forms: The word derives from Old French eschoir (also found as eschoir/eschoier), a term connected to the notion of something arriving or falling at a given time. It has given rise to related concepts in French, such as échéance, which denotes a due date or deadline, reflecting the same underlying idea of a time at which something becomes due or relevant.

Usage: In contemporary writing, échoir appears most often in formal, legal, religious, or poetic prose. It is not part of everyday spoken French, where more common verbs such as arriver or tomber would be used to express similar ideas. When used, the verb frequently conveys impersonal or fate-related nuance, as in constructions where a matter “falls to” someone to handle or when a date or event is said to come due.

Conjugation and forms: Échoir is irregular among -oir verbs and shows its own historical inflections. In practice, modern readers encounter it mainly through fixed phrases or in quotations from older texts, rather than in daily conversation.

See also: Échéance, échouer, échoir.