couver
/ku.ve/
To smolder in French is expressed by the verb couver.
The verb couver is used both for physical smoldering (like embers) and for metaphorical smoldering (like a person brooding over an emotion).
Meaning: to burn slowly with smoke but no flame (verb)
What does it mean word for word?
The literal sense of the verb is to hatch an egg or to brood, which provides the semantic basis for the idea of something staying warm and hidden under a surface.
How does it change in a sentence?
The imperfect tense form of couver is couvait.
How do you pronounce it?
/ku.ve/
Did you know?
- If you say someone is couver un rhume, you are not talking about smoldering, but rather that they are 'incubating' a cold and are about to fall ill.
- If a person is couvé by a parent, it means they are being overprotected or 'smothered', playing on the image of a hen sitting on her chicks.
- The word couver comes from the Latin cubāre, which means 'to lie down'.
Examples in context
- Les braises couvaient sous la cendre.The embers were smoldering under the ash.
- Le feu semble couver doucement.The fire seems to be smoldering slowly.
- Laisse les charbons couver dans la cheminée.Let the coals smolder in the fireplace.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry couver, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries couver, CC BY-SA 4.0.
