engegar

Catalan

Etymology

Numerous derivations have been proposed, including:

1. from a Vulgar Latin *exiacicāre, from *iacium (“bed, bedding”) (source of jaç), from Latin iaceō (“to lie”);
2. from an Andalusi Arabic form of Arabic تَشَكَّى (tašakkā), frequentive/intensive of شَكَا (šakā, “to complain”) (source of xacra);
3. from Latin īnstīgāre (“to incite, to urge”) (source of instigar);
4. from a Vulgar Latin *indeāgāre, alteration of indāgō (“to track, to hunt”) (source of indagar).

Cognate with Aragonese enchegar.

Pronunciation

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

Verb

engegar (first-person singular present engego, first-person singular preterite engeguí, past participle engegat); root stress: (Central, Valencian, Balearic) /e/

1. (transitive) to start, get started
   • 1995, Joaquim Carbó, La casa sobre el gel, page 31:

     Hauria tingut ganes de comentar-ho amb algú, però en Hans no hi era i en Henry i el professor parlaven animadament d'algun dels aspectes més apassionants de l'aventura que havien engegat.

     He would have felt like commenting on it to someone, but Hans wasn't there, and Henry and the professor were speaking animatedly about some of the more thrilling aspects of the adventure that they had begun.

2. (transitive) to turn on, engage
   • 1990, Miquel Àngel Riera, Illa Flaubert:

     Engegà el televisor no sense por d'enrampar-se i, al cap d'un instant, del fons d'aquella pantalla de costats arrodonits varen emergir unes formes grises que no deixà acabar de definir.

     He turned on the television, not without fear of getting a shock, and, after a moment, from the bottom of that screen with rounded sides some ill-defined grey forms emerged.

3. (transitive) to shoot, throw

   Synonyms: disparar, llançar

Conjugation

Derived terms

• engegada

Further reading

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