desmaiar

Catalan

Alternative forms

• esmaiar

Etymology

Probably from Vulgar Latin *exmagāre (“deprive of power or strength”), from ex- + *magare (“to enable; empower”), from Frankish *magan, *mugan (“to be able”), from Proto-Germanic *maganą. Compare Old French esmaier, Old Occitan esmaiar, Portuguese esmagar, Spanish amagar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Verb

desmaiar (first-person singular present desmaio, first-person singular preterite desmaí, past participle desmaiat)

1. (intransitive) to lose heart, to falter
2. (intransitive, takes a reflexive pronoun) to faint

Conjugation

Derived terms

• desmai
• desmaiat

Further reading

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

Galician

Alternative forms

• esmaiar

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese desmayar (13th century), from Old French esmaiier, from Proto-Germanic *magaz (“strong”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Verb

desmaiar (first-person singular present desmaio, first-person singular preterite desmaiei, past participle desmaiado)

1. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to faint

   Synonym: desfalecer

2. (intransitive) to dismay; to falter; to become discouraged; to weaken

   Synonyms: desfalecer, esmorecer

Conjugation

References

• “desmayar” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “desmay” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “desmaiar” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “desmaiar” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “desmaiar” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• esmaiar

Etymology

Alteration of esmaiar, from Old French esmaier, from Vulgar Latin *exmagāre (“lose the strength”), from Frankish *magan (“to have strength”). Compare Galician desmaiar and Spanish desmayar.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: des‧mai‧ar

Verb

desmaiar (first-person singular present desmaio, first-person singular preterite desmaiei, past participle desmaiado)

1. (intransitive) to faint (to lose consciousness)

   Synonyms: (colloquial) desacordar, desfalecer, esvair

2. (intransitive, figurative) to dishearten

   Synonyms: desanimar, esmorecer

3. (intransitive, figurative) to fall asleep suddenly, usually by excessive tiredness
4. (transitive) to cause a person to faint, often by drugging them and with criminal intentions

Conjugation

Related terms

• desmaiado
• desmaio
• esmaecido

References