cuidar

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin cogitāre. Compare Old Occitan cuidar, Middle French cuider, Spanish cuidar. Doublet of cogitar, a borrowing from Latin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

cuidar (first-person singular present cuido, first-person singular preterite cuidí, past participle cuidat)

1. to think, to believe
2. to be about to do something, especially having an accident
3. to care for, to take care of

Conjugation

Derived terms

• cuidador

Further reading

• “cuidar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “cuidar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin cogitāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kyjˈdaɾ/

Verb

cuidar

1. to believe
2. to think

Descendants

• Occitan: coidar

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• cuydar (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese cuidar, from Latin cōgitāre (“to think, to consider”), from co- + agitō (“to agitate”). Doublet of cogitar, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: cui‧dar

Verb

cuidar (first-person singular present cuido, first-person singular preterite cuidei, past participle cuidado)

1. (transitive, followed by de) to take care (of); to look after (to provide care for)

   A mãe cuida das crianças. ― The mother tends the children.

2. (intransitive) to take care; to be careful
3. (transitive, followed by de) to take care (of); to deal (with); to handle

   Não te preocupes, cuidarei deste problema. ― Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this problem.

4. (transitive, followed by de) to mind (to concern oneself with, to pay attention to)

   Cuida da tua vida! ― Mind your own business! (literally, “Mind your life!”)

5. (reflexive) to take care (be cautious, careful)
6. (reflexive, imperative) take care (used as a farewell)

Conjugation

Related terms

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish coidar, from Latin cogitāre (“think”). Doublet of cogitar, a borrowing from Latin, whence also English cogitate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kwiˈdaɾ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: cui‧dar

Verb

cuidar (first-person singular present cuido, first-person singular preterite cuidé, past participle cuidado)

1. (transitive, intransitive) to take care of, to care for

   A usted le sugiero que cuide a sus propios niños, y yo voy a preocuparme de los míos.

   I suggest that you care for your own children and I'll worry about mine.

2. (transitive) to look after, to look out for, to keep an eye on, to guard, to protect, to watch over, to watch out for (implies doing so with care)

   Por favor, cuida de mi hija después de que muera.

   Please, look out for my daughter after I'm gone.

   El perro leal siempre cuida la casa.

   The loyal dog always guards the house.

3. (transitive) to mind, to watch, to pay attention

   Por favor cuide su lengua, ¿de acuerdo?

   Please watch your tongue, all right?

   Creo que debes cuidar tus modales, muchacho.

   I think you should mind your manners, boy.

4. to babysit
5. to keep, to sit on (e.g. one's house, keeping the place in order)
6. (transitive) to nurse, to nurture, to tend, to tend to, to attend to (e.g. nurse back to health, to tend a garden or yard, tend to a herd or flock)
7. (reflexive) to take care, to take care of, to look after, to care for (oneself)

   Cuídate!

   Take care of yourself!

8. (reflexive) to be careful of/with, to beware, to watch out for, to be wary of (+ de)

Usage notes

• Cuidar does not require the preposition de to signify "take care of" unlike English (which requires "of"). Both cuidar and cuidar de mean to "take care of". In other words, cuidar can be used both transitively and intransitively.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

• velar

Further reading

• “cuidar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014