encantar

Likely a Semi-learned borrowing from Latin incantāre. By surface analysis, en- +‎ cantar.

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

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encantí, past participle encantat)

1. to enchant, charm, delight
2. to bewitch, put a spell on

• In the sense translated as 'love', subject and object are reversed from those of to love. That is, the subject of encantar is the thing that is loved and the indirect object is the person loving it. As the object is indirect, a third-person subject is supplemented with the preposition a, or substituted by pronouns li/els.
• M'encanta l'hivern. — I love winter a lot. (literally to me winter loves a lot)

• encantador
• encanteri

• cantar

• “encantar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “encantar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “encantar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “encantar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Old Galician-Portuguese encantar, from Latin incantāre, possibly taken as a semi-learned term. Equivalent to en- +‎ cantar.

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encantei, past participle encantado)

1. to enchant, charm

• cantar

From Latin incantāre.

encantar

1. to enchant, charm, delight
2. to love

    Lengadocian (Central Occitan)

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encanti	encantas	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encantan
	imperfect	encantavi	encantavas	encantava	encantàvem	encantàvetz	encantavan
	preterite	encantèri	encantères	encantèt	encantèrem	encantèretz	encantèron
	future	encantarai	encantaràs	encantarà	encantarem	encantaretz	encantaràn
	conditional	encantariái	encantariás	encantariá	encantariam	encantariatz	encantarián
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encante	encantes	encante	encantem	encantetz	encanten
	imperfect	encantèssi	encantèsses	encantèsse	encantèssem	encantèssetz	encantèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantem	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Auvernhàs

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encante	encantes	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encanton
	imperfect	encantave	encantaves	encantava	encantaviam	encantaviatz	encantavon
	preterite	encantere	encanteres	encantet	encantem	encantetz	encanteron
	future	encantarai	encantaràs	encantará	encantarem	encantaretz	encantarán
	conditional	encantariá	encantariás	encantariá	encantariam	encantariatz	encantarián
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encante	encantes	encante	encantassiam	encantassiatz	encanton
	imperfect	encantesse	encantesses	encantesse	encantessiam	encantessiatz	encantesson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantassiam	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Gascon

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encanti	encantas	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encantan
	imperfect	encantavi	encantavas	encantava	encantàvam	encantàvatz	encantavan
	preterite	encantèi	encantès	encantè	encantèm	encantètz	encantèn
	future	encantarèi	encantaràs	encantarà	encantaram	encantaratz	encantaràn
	conditional	encantarí	encantarés	encantaré	encantarem	encantaretz	encantarén
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encanti	encantes	encante	encantem	encantetz	encanten
	imperfect	encantèssi	encantèsses	encantèsse	encantèssem	encantèssetz	encantèssen
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantem	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Lemosin

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encante	encantas	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encantan
	imperfect	encantava	encantavas	encantava	encantàvam	encantàvatz	encantavan
	preterite	encantei	encanteras	encantet	encantèram	encantèratz	encanteran
	future	encantarai	encantaràs	encantará	encantarem	encantaretz	encantarán
	conditional	encantariá	encantariàs	encantariá	encantariam	encantariatz	encantarián
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encante	encantes	encante	encantem	encantetz	encanten
	imperfect	encantèsse	encantèsses	encantèsse	encantèssem	encantèssetz	encantèssen
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantem	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Provençau

		simple			compound
infinitive		encantar			aver encantat
gerund		encantant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		encantat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	encante	encantes	encanta	encantam	encantatz	encantan
	imperfect	encantavi	encantavas	encantava	encantàvem	encantàvetz	encantavan
	preterite	encantère	encantères	encantèt	encanteriam	encanteriatz	encantèron
	future	encantarai	encantaràs	encantarà	encantarem	encantaretz	encantaràn
	conditional	encantariáu	encantariás	encantariá	encantariam	encantariatz	encantarián
	conditional 2nd form1	encantèra	encantèras	encantèra	encanteram	encanteratz	encantèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	encante	encantes	encante	encantem	encantetz	encantan
	imperfect	encantèsse	encantèsses	encantèsse	encantessiam	encantessiatz	encantèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			encanta		encantem	encantatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

From Old Galician-Portuguese encantar, from Latin incantāre, possibly taken as a semi-learned term. By surface analysis, en- +‎ cantar.

• (Northeast Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.kɐ̃.ˈta(h)/
• Hyphenation: en‧can‧tar

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encantei, past participle encantado)

1. to enchant, charm
2. to delight
3. to bewitch, put a spell on

• cantar

From Latin incantāre, possibly taken as a semi-learned term. Equivalent to en- +‎ cantar.

• IPA^(key): /enkanˈtaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: en‧can‧tar

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encanté, past participle encantado)

1. to charm, to enchant
2. to please, to delight

   Synonym: gustar mucho

   Me encantan los mariscos.

   I love seafood.

   (literally, “Seafood delights me.”)

3. to bewitch

   Synonym: embrujar

• The English verb to love (i.e., to like very much, referring to non-human objects or activities) is usually translated to and from Spanish as encantar. This causes confusion for some English speakers studying Spanish, since the subject and object of encantar are seemingly reversed from those of to love. That is, the subject of encantar is the thing that "delights", and the (indirect) object is the one who "loves" that thing. (The related verb gustar ("to like") usually functions the same way as well.)

A commonly used method is to think of encantar as literally meaning "to delight" or "to be very pleasing to":

No me encantaron las patatas fritas. ― I didn't like the fries very much. (literally, “The fries were not very pleasing to me.”)

A los perros les encanta ladrar todo el día. ― Dogs love to bark all day. (literally, “Barking all day delights dogs.”)

A María le encantan los pueblitos. ― María loves little villages. (literally, “Little villages delight María.”)

Note that the indirect object pronoun is usually compulsory before encantar, even if the object itself is also present in the sentence. The only exception is if the object is a universal pronoun such as todo or nadie, in which case the extra pronoun is often optional:

«¿Crees que esta canción le encanta a Raquel?» «Pues claro, ¡la canción (le) encanta a todo el mundo!» ― "Do you think Raquel loves this song?" "Well of course, everyone loves the song!"

Also, in its conditional form, encantar can be used to express wishes or polite requests, in the same way as would love in English:

Nos encantaría conocerte. ― We would love to meet you.

• The verb is seldom used when expressing love for a person; more commonly used verbs in such contexts include amar (for romantic love), querer (for platonic or familial love; can also be used romantically) and caer muy bien (for just getting along with someone).
• When used to mean to love or to delight (as above), the verb takes an indirect object; on the other hand, when used to mean to bewitch (in the literal sense), it takes a direct object. Contrast the following:

Las espinacas le encantaron. ― She loved the spinach. (literally, “The spinach delighted her.”)

Las ancianas la encantaron. ― The elderly women bewitched her.

• prendar

• “encantar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10