enterrer

To bury — literally (enterrer un corps, un trésor) and very commonly figuratively, for burying a plan, a conflict, or a piece of news (enterrer un projet, un scandale). A basic, everyday verb every learner needs early.

• On a enterré le trésor au pied du vieux chêne. — They buried the treasure at the foot of the old oak tree.
• Le gouvernement a discrètement enterré le projet de loi. — The government quietly buried the bill.
• Les deux pays ont enfin enterré la hache de guerre. — The two countries have finally buried the hatchet.

Learners often only know the literal burial sense and miss how naturally French uses enterrer for shelving a project or scandal — the figurative use is at least as common as the literal one.

• expression « Enterrer la hache de guerre » — A French idiom meaning to make peace, documented since at least 1888, borrowed from the Indigenous North American custom of burying weapons to mark the end of hostilities.