ajoelhar

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese agẽollar, corresponding to a- +‎ joelho +‎ -ar. Compare Galician axeonllar, Spanish ahinojar, Catalan agenollar, French agenouiller, Italian inginocchiare, Romanian îngenunchea.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: a‧jo‧e‧lhar

Verb

ajoelhar (first-person singular present ajoelho, first-person singular preterite ajoelhei, past participle ajoelhado)

1. (takes a reflexive pronoun or intransitive (rare)) to kneel (to stoop down and rest on one’s knees)

   Os súditos se ajoelharam diante do rei.

   The subjects knelt before the king.

2. (figurative, takes a reflexive pronoun, intransitive, or transitive with a or diante de) to kneel to (to accept defeat; to accept someone’s superiority)

   Synonym: genuflectir

   Conseguimos fazer nosso inimigo se ajoelhar.

   We were able to make our enemy kneel.

   Ela ajoelhou-se ao professor.

   She knelt before her teacher.

3. (transitive) to make someone kneel

   Ajoelhei os prisioneiros com um cassetete.

   I made the prisoners kneel with a truncheon.

4. (figurative, transitive, poetic) to subjugate (to forcibly impose obedience or servitude)

   Synonym: subjugar

   Roma ajoelhou seus vizinhos.

   Rome subjugated its neighbours.

Conjugation

Further reading

• “ajoelhar” in iDicionário Aulete.
• “ajoelhar” in Dicionário inFormal.
• “ajoelhar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “ajoelhar” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024.
• “ajoelhar” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “ajoelhar” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.