What does écarter in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word écarter in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use écarter in French.

The word écarter in French means move aside, take away, spread, part, open, rule out, remove, step aside, move away, stray from, wander from, digress from, prevent, discard, ward off danger, stray from the straight and narrow. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word écarter

move aside

verbe transitif (mettre sur le côté)

J'ai écarté les rideaux pour voir dehors.
I moved the curtains aside to see out.

take away

verbe transitif (éloigner)

Cette route vous écarte de cette ville, mais elle est plus rapide.
This road takes you away from the city but it is quicker.

spread, part, open

verbe transitif (séparer : les bras, les jambes)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Tournez-vous et écartez un peu les jambes.
Turn around and spread your legs a little.

rule out

verbe transitif (éliminer, exclure) (idea, hypothesis, solution)

(phrasal verb, transitive, separable: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning, divisible--for example, "call off" [=cancel], "call the game off," "call off the game.")
J'ai écarté cette solution, elle coûte trop cher.
I ruled out that solution, it is too costly.

remove

verbe transitif (exclure)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
J'ai été écarté du projet.
I was removed from the project.

step aside

verbe pronominal (se pousser)

Écarte-toi, tu me gênes ! Écartez-vous, laissez passer le blessé.
Move, you're in my way!

move away

verbe pronominal (s'éloigner)

Tu t'es trop écarté, reviens vers nous.
You've moved too far away; come back closer to us.

stray from, wander from, digress from

verbe pronominal (faire une digression)

Je crois que nous nous écartons du sujet de la réunion.
I think we're straying from the subject.

prevent

verbe transitif (prémunir contre)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Les agrumes écartent le risque de scorbut.
Eating citrus fruit prevents scurvy.

discard

verbe transitif (Cartes : enlever des cartes) (cards)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Au tarot, il écarte toujours assez de cartes pour se faire une coupe franche.
In tarot, he always discards enough cards to be able to trump.

ward off danger

locution verbale (éviter un risque)

(intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.")

stray from the straight and narrow

locution verbale (figuré (s'égarer moralement) (figurative)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Avec toutes ces mauvaises fréquentations, Paul s'est finalement écarté du droit chemin.
Paul ended up straying from the straight and narrow because he hung around with a bad crowd.

Let's learn French

So now that you know more about the meaning of écarter in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

Do you know about French

French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.