battu

beaten, defeated

adjective bah-TEW Rare

Origin: Past participle of battre (to beat), from Latin 'battuere'

Also means

beaten (as in eggs or cream)

Usage Note

Battu is the past participle of battre used as an adjective. Battu describes both sporting defeat (l'équipe battue) and physical abuse (enfant battu). The expression sentier battu (well-worn path) and hors des sentiers battus ('off the beaten track') are very common idioms. The feminine form is battue.

Examples

"L'équipe rentra chez elle, battue et épuisée."

Natural Translation

The team came home beaten and exhausted.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Related Words

Explore French by topic

FrenchNow

French Noun Gender: Rules to Guess Right 80%

Guess French noun gender right 80% of the time using word endings: -age, -ment, -eau are masculine; -tion, -té, -ette are feminine. A high-yield system.

June 3, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

Aller + Infinitive: The Easy French Future

Form the French near future in seconds: conjugate aller in the present and add an infinitive. Learn futur proche rules, negation, pronouns, and when to use it.

June 4, 2026 6 min read

FrenchNow

French Filler Words: Euh, Bah, Du Coup, Quoi

French filler words like euh, bah, du coup, and quoi make you sound fluent, not lazy. Learn what each one does, where it goes, and how to use them naturally.

June 4, 2026 6 min read

FrenchNow

Avoir or Être? Picking the Right Past-Tense Helper

Use avoir for the passé composé unless the verb is reflexive or one of ~16 DR MRS VANDERTRAMP motion verbs, which take être and force agreement.

June 4, 2026 5 min read