fixer

See also: Fixer

English

Etymology

From fix +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

fixer (plural fixers)

1. Agent noun of fix: one who, or that which, fixes.
2. (photography) A chemical (sodium thiosulfate) used in photographic development that fixes the image in place, preventing further chemical reactions.
   • 2003, Bruce Warren, Photography: The Concise Guide, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 69:

     The fixer removes the undeveloped silver salts from the film, rendering it no longer sensitive to light. Pour the fixer — at a temperature within plus or minus 5° F of the developer's — into the tank, using the amount specified by the tank directions. Agitate with ten inversions initially and then for 10 seconds out of every minute for the remainder of the fixing time. The fixing time is not as critical as the developing lime, but stay within the time range suggested in the fixer directions.

3. A person who serves as an agent to arrange for a desired result, perhaps by improper means.
4. (Philippines, by extension) Someone who is often paid that helps a customer cut through red tape, especially for government processes or applications.
5. (criminal justice, law) A person who arranges immunity for defendants by tampering with the justice system via bribery or extortion, especially as a business endeavor for profit.
   • 1937, Edwin H. (ed) Sutherland with Conwell, Chic (pseudonym), The Professional Thief: by a Professional Thief. Annotated and Interpreted by Edwin H. Sutherland, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, LCCN 37036112:

     A professional bank robber commented on this [a point in the thief's memoir]: 'Perhaps the author means by this that the fixer with whom he is acquainted works only on crimes not involving violence. It is true that there are specialists even in the fix line, and a man who has an in [in = advantageous position] to fix con cases might not be able to fix robbery cases. But if the author means that the fix does not exist in armed robbery, he is badly mistaken. It is merely a matter of knowing the right party to go to.'

6. (journalism) A person who assists foreign journalists in volatile countries, often providing interpretation, personal connections, and transportation services.
   • 2007, Myriam Salama-Carr, Translating and Interpreting Conflict, Rodopi, →ISBN, page 25:

     Yet at the same time, this is also the source of what journalists see as one of the major risks involved in dependence on the fixer: the fixer may determine, to some extent, what the journalist sees. It is at this point that differences between journalists become apparent in the interviews – they give different evaluations of the risks. Clearly, this is a point of tension in their understanding of the situation: the prime positive qualities of the fixer are also the potentially negative ones.

7. (real estate, US) A fixer-upper.
8. (slang) A drug dealer or user.
   • 1969 October 27, Lew Alcindor, Jack Olsen, “My Story”, in Sports Illustrated, volume 31, number 18, →ISSN, page 90:

     He'd say things like, “Now, I don’t want you in Harlem!” He was afraid I'd meet the wrong people in Harlem; fixers, junkies, people like that.

Derived terms

• flicker fixer
• nitrogen fixer

 

Related terms

• the fix is in

Translations

someone who fixes

• Hungarian: szerelő (hu), ezermester (hu)
• Polish: naprawiacz (pl) m

something which fixes

• Hungarian: rögzítő (hu)

chemical used in photographic development

• Bulgarian: фиксаж m (fiksaž)
• Catalan: fixador m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 定影劑／定影剂 (zh) (dìngyǐngjì), 固定劑／固定剂 (zh) (gùdìngjì)

• Czech: ustalovač (cs) m
• Dutch: fixeermiddel n
• Finnish: kiinnite (fi)
• French: fixateur (fr) m
• German: Fixiermittel n, Fixiersalz n
• Hungarian: fixír, fixírsó (hu), rögzítőszer, fixáló (hu), fixálószer
• Italian: fissatore (it) m
• Japanese: 定着液 (ja) (ていちゃくえき, teichakueki)
• Persian: فیکساتور (fa) (fiksâtor)
• Polish: utrwalacz m
• Russian: фикса́ж (ru) m (fiksáž), закрепи́тель (ru) m (zakrepítelʹ)
• Slovak: ustaľovač m
• Spanish: fijador m
• Welsh: sefydlyn m

a person who serves as an agent to arrange for a desired result, perhaps by improper means

• Hungarian: elintézőember, kijáróember, kijáró (hu), közvetítő (hu), ügynök (hu), problémamegoldó (hu)
• Polish: załatwiacz m
• Spanish: amañador m, amañadora f, conseguidor m

criminal justice, law: a person who arranges immunity for defendants by tampering with the justice system via bribery or extortion, especially as a business endeavor for profit

journalism: a person who assists foreign journalists in volatile countries, often providing interpretation, personal connections, and transportation services

real estate, US: fixer-upper — see fixer-upper

Further reading

• “fixer n.¹”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
• “fixer n.² (drug dealer/user)”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

Anagrams

• refix, xerif

French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ-der.

Proto-Italic *feigʷō

Latin fīvō

Latin fīgō

Latin fixuslbor.

Old French fix

Middle French fixe

Proto-Italic *-āzi

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Latin -ereinflu.

Latin -āre

Old French -ier

Middle French -er

Middle French fixer

French fixer

From Middle French fixer, from fixe + -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fik.se/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

fixer

1. to fix, fasten
2. to fix, arrange, set (a date, price etc.)
3. (reflexive) to settle (in a place)
4. (transitive) to stare at
   • 2000, Jean-François Parot, L'énigme des Blancs-Manteaux, JC Lattès, published 2012, page 11:

     Sur le banc, deux hommes, envelopés de capes dont les pans noirs étaient à demi éclairés par la lueur d’un méchant falot, fixaient l’obscurité.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Conjugation of fixer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	fixer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	fixant /fik.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		fixé /fik.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	fixe /fiks/	fixes /fiks/	fixe /fiks/	fixons /fik.sɔ̃/	fixez /fik.se/	fixent /fiks/
	imperfect	fixais /fik.sɛ/	fixais /fik.sɛ/	fixait /fik.sɛ/	fixions /fik.sjɔ̃/	fixiez /fik.sje/	fixaient /fik.sɛ/
	past historic2	fixai /fik.se/	fixas /fik.sa/	fixa /fik.sa/	fixâmes /fik.sam/	fixâtes /fik.sat/	fixèrent /fik.sɛʁ/
	future	fixerai /fik.sə.ʁe/	fixeras /fik.sə.ʁa/	fixera /fik.sə.ʁa/	fixerons /fik.sə.ʁɔ̃/	fixerez /fik.sə.ʁe/	fixeront /fik.sə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	fixerais /fik.sə.ʁɛ/	fixerais /fik.sə.ʁɛ/	fixerait /fik.sə.ʁɛ/	fixerions /fik.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	fixeriez /fik.sə.ʁje/	fixeraient /fik.sə.ʁɛ/
(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	fixe /fiks/	fixes /fiks/	fixe /fiks/	fixions /fik.sjɔ̃/	fixiez /fik.sje/	fixent /fiks/
	imperfect2	fixasse /fik.sas/	fixasses /fik.sas/	fixât /fik.sa/	fixassions /fik.sa.sjɔ̃/	fixassiez /fik.sa.sje/	fixassent /fik.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	fixe /fiks/	—	fixons /fik.sɔ̃/	fixez /fik.se/	—
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

• fixation

Descendants

• → Romanian: fixa

Further reading

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

Galician

Verb

fixer

1. first/third-person singular future subjunctive of facer

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɪksɐ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

fixer

1. comparative degree of fix

Adjective

fixer

1. inflection of fix:
   1. strong/mixed nominative masculine singular
   2. strong genitive/dative feminine singular
   3. strong genitive plural

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiksa/
• Rhymes: -iksa
• Syllabification: fi‧xer

Adjective

fixer

1. inflection of fix:
   1. strong masculine nominative singular
   2. strong feminine dative singular

Middle French

Etymology

From fixe + -er.

Verb

fixer m (feminine singular fixere, masculine plural fixers, feminine plural fixeres)

1. to fix; to fasten

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of fixer

infinitive	simple	fixer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	fixant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		fixé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	fixe	fixes	fixe	fixons	fixez	fixent
	imperfect	fixois, fixoys	fixois, fixoys	fixoit, fixoyt	fixions, fixyons	fixiez, fixyez	fixoient, fixoyent
	past historic	fixa	fixas	fixa	fixasmes	fixastes	fixerent
	future	fixerai, fixeray	fixeras	fixera	fixerons	fixerez	fixeront
	conditional	fixerois, fixeroys	fixerois, fixeroys	fixeroit, fixeroyt	fixerions, fixeryons	fixeriez, fixeryez	fixeroient, fixeroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	fixe	fixes	fixe	fixons	fixez	fixent
	imperfect	fixasse	fixasses	fixast	fixassions	fixassiez	fixassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	fixe	—	fixons	fixez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: fixer

References

• fixer on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

Norman

Etymology

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

Verb

fixer

1. (Jersey, transitive) to stare at