caboter

French

Etymology

Uncertain, perhaps from cap +‎ -oter, influenced by Spanish cabo (“cape”). Sometimes claimed to be derived from Italian explorer Sebastian Cabot (c. 1474–1557) or John Cabot (c. 1450–1500), but the Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales describes this derivation as unsupported by the chronology.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.bɔ.te/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

caboter

1. (intransitive, nautical) to coast, to hug the coastline (to travel by the coast)

   Synonyms: (rare) côtoyer, serrer la côte

2. (intransitive) to transport goods or passenger, to provide cabotage

Conjugation

Conjugation of caboter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	caboter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	cabotant /ka.bɔ.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		caboté /ka.bɔ.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	cabote /ka.bɔt/	cabotes /ka.bɔt/	cabote /ka.bɔt/	cabotons /ka.bɔ.tɔ̃/	cabotez /ka.bɔ.te/	cabotent /ka.bɔt/
	imperfect	cabotais /ka.bɔ.tɛ/	cabotais /ka.bɔ.tɛ/	cabotait /ka.bɔ.tɛ/	cabotions /ka.bɔ.tjɔ̃/	cabotiez /ka.bɔ.tje/	cabotaient /ka.bɔ.tɛ/
	past historic2	cabotai /ka.bɔ.te/	cabotas /ka.bɔ.ta/	cabota /ka.bɔ.ta/	cabotâmes /ka.bɔ.tam/	cabotâtes /ka.bɔ.tat/	cabotèrent /ka.bɔ.tɛʁ/
	future	caboterai /ka.bɔ.tʁe/	caboteras /ka.bɔ.tʁa/	cabotera /ka.bɔ.tʁa/	caboterons /ka.bɔ.tʁɔ̃/	caboterez /ka.bɔ.tʁe/	caboteront /ka.bɔ.tʁɔ̃/
	conditional	caboterais /ka.bɔ.tʁɛ/	caboterais /ka.bɔ.tʁɛ/	caboterait /ka.bɔ.tʁɛ/	caboterions /ka.bɔ.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	caboteriez /ka.bɔ.tə.ʁje/	caboteraient /ka.bɔ.tʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	cabote /ka.bɔt/	cabotes /ka.bɔt/	cabote /ka.bɔt/	cabotions /ka.bɔ.tjɔ̃/	cabotiez /ka.bɔ.tje/	cabotent /ka.bɔt/
	imperfect2	cabotasse /ka.bɔ.tas/	cabotasses /ka.bɔ.tas/	cabotât /ka.bɔ.ta/	cabotassions /ka.bɔ.ta.sjɔ̃/	cabotassiez /ka.bɔ.ta.sje/	cabotassent /ka.bɔ.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	cabote /ka.bɔt/	—	cabotons /ka.bɔ.tɔ̃/	cabotez /ka.bɔ.te/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• cabotage
• cabotier

Further reading

• “caboter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Norman

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

caboter

1. (Jersey, agriculture) to produce a good crop (of potatoes)