matar

Aragonese

Etymology

Most likely from Latin mactāre (through a Vulgar Latin root *mattāre). Alternatively, possibly from Vulgar Latin *mattāre, from Late Latin mattus (“drunk, intoxicated”), related to madidus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈta(ɾ)/
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)
• Syllabification: ma‧tar

Verb

matar

1. (transitive) to kill

References

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “matar”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

Asturian

Etymology

Most likely from Latin mactāre, present active infinitive of mactō (through a Vulgar Latin root *mattāre). Alternatively, possibly from Vulgar Latin *mattāre, from Late Latin mattus (“drunk, intoxicated”), related to madidus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈtaɾ/,
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: ma‧tar

Verb

matar (first-person singular indicative present mato, past participle matáu)

1. to kill

Conjugation

Related terms

• matar

Catalan

Etymology

Most likely from Latin mactāre (through a Vulgar Latin root *mattāre). Alternatively, possibly from Vulgar Latin *mattāre, from Late Latin mattus (“drunk, intoxicated”), related to madidus.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

matar (first-person singular present mato, first-person singular preterite matí, past participle matat)

1. to kill

   Synonym: (formal) occir

2. to extinguish

   Synonyms: extingir, apagar

Conjugation

The past participle can optionally be mort.

Derived terms

Further reading

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

Faroese

Verb

matar

1. second/third-person singular present of mata

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese matar, most likely from Latin mactāre, present active infinitive of mactō (through a Vulgar Latin root *mattāre). Alternatively, possibly from Vulgar Latin *mattāre, from Late Latin mattus (“drunk, intoxicated”), related to madidus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈtaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: ma‧tar

Verb

matar (first-person singular present mato, first-person singular preterite matei, past participle matado, short past participle morto)

1. (transitive) to kill
2. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to accidentally kill oneself
3. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to commit suicide

   Synonym: suicidar

4. (takes a reflexive pronoun, figurative) to kill oneself (exert oneself)

   Non te mates a barrer as follas agora; esta noite vai ventar. ― Don't kill yourself raking the leaves now; we're due for a windstorm tonight.

5. (transitive) to extinguish, turn off, quench

   Synonym: apagar

Conjugation

Related terms

• matachín
• matadoiro
• matador

References

• “matar” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “matar” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “matar” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “matar” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.
• “matar” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “matar” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).
• “matar” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Ladino

Verb

matar (Latin spelling)

1. to kill

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *mattāre, from Latin mactāre.

Verb

matar

1. (transitive) to kill
2. (transitive, figurative) to harm
3. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to commit suicide

Conjugation

Descendants

• Galician: matar
• Portuguese: matar

Further reading

• "matar" in UC/Glosario, s.v. xxx, in Ferreiro, Manuel (dir.) (2014): Universo Cantigas. Edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa. Universidade da Coruña.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• mattar (obsolete)
• matá (eye dialect, Brazil)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese matar, probably from Latin mactāre (through Vulgar Latin *mattāre). The development of -ct- would be irregular, however. Hence possibly derived from or influenced by Late Latin mattus (“drunk, intoxicated”), related to madidus. Another possibility is an influence by Arabic مَاتَ (māta, “to die”).

The short past participle is derived from Latin morīre, an unrelated verb that means "to die."

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ma‧tar

Verb

matar (first-person singular present mato, first-person singular preterite matei, past participle matado, short past participle morto)

2. to kill (to cause to die)

   Synonym: assassinar

   Mataram-no a tiros! ― They shot him dead! (literally, “ killed him with gunshots!”)

   A geada matará a plantação. ― The frost will kill the crop.

   Ela matou-se com a faca. ― She killed herself with the knife.

4. (figurative, transitive) to kill; to eradicate; to destroy

   Synonyms: erradicar, destruir, acabar com

   Matou-lhe as esperanças ― He killed his hopes.

6. (figurative, informal, transitive) to kill (to cause extreme pain, distress or exhaustion in)

   Synonyms: acabar com, detonar, quebrar, arrebentar

   Minhas pernas estão me matando ― My legs are killing me!

   Essas palavras matam! ― These words kill!

8. (transitive) to kill (to write a story that conveys the death of)

   Hobbes matara o positivismo acerca da revolução. ― Hobbes had killed the positivism surrounding the revolution.

10. (figurative, transitive) to satisfy, to satiate, to quench (to fulfil an emotional or physiological need)

    Synonyms: saciar, satisfazer

    Antes de matar meu desejo de caminhar, preciso matar minha sede. ― Before I satisfy my desire to walk, I need to quench my thirst.

12. (figurative, takes a reflexive pronoun) to break one's back (to make a great effort)

    Synonym: arrebentar-se

    O homem se matava para sustentar a família. ― The man broke his back providing for his family.

14. (colloquial, transitive) to spend doing unimportant things

    Synonym: passar

    A escola ficou fechada hoje; tive o dia inteiro para matar. ― School was closed today; I had the entire day to goof around.

16. (Brazil, slang, transitive) to skip (not to be present in a class)

    Synonym: faltar

    Os alunos mataram a aula de geografia. ― The students skipped geography class.

18. (informal, transitive) to solve (to find the solution to a mystery)

    Synonyms: resolver, solucionar

    Finalmente matei a charada. ― I have finally solved the riddle.

20. (Brazil, slang, transitive) to consume something entirely (especially an alcoholic drink); to knock down

    Matamos uns cascos para relaxar. ― We knocked down a few forties to relax.

22. (sports, transitive) to stop a moving ball

    Synonym: parar

    Passei de longe para o atacante, que matou a bola no peito. ― I passed the ball to the striker from a distance; he then stopped it with his chest.

24. (cue sports, transitive) to pocket (to cause a ball to go into one of the pockets of the table)

    Synonym: encaçapar

    Ela sempre mata duas ou três bolas na primeira tacada. ― She always pockets two or three balls with the first strike.

Conjugation

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:matar.

Synonyms

• (to commit suicide): suicidar

Derived terms

References

Further reading

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

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mâtar/
• Hyphenation: ma‧tar

Noun

mȁtar m (Cyrillic spelling ма̏тар)

1. Alternative form of mȍtar (“sea fennel”)

Declension

Spanish

Alternative forms

• amatar (obsolete)

Etymology

Several possibilities:

• From Latin mactāre (through a Vulgar Latin *mattāre). Thus, a potential cognate with English mactate.
• From Vulgar Latin *mattāre, from Late Latin mattus (“drunk, intoxicated”), related to madidus. Compare Portuguese and Catalan matar, archaic Italian mattare.
• From Spanish mazar, in turn from maza (“mace, club”); compare Italian ammazzare (“to kill”).
• From Arabic مَاتَ (māta, “to die”), cf. Persian مات, the probable source of the second part of English checkmate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈtaɾ/

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: ma‧tar

Verb

matar (first-person singular present mato, first-person singular preterite maté, past participle matado)

1. to kill, slay
2. to put out, extinguish (a flame or light)

   Synonyms: extinguir, apagar

3. to butcher
4. to injure, damage

   Synonyms: dañar, enfermar

5. to fatigue, exhaust, tire out

   Synonyms: fatigar, cansar

6. to dull (render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish)

   Synonyms: apagar, deslustrar, opacar

7. to round off
8. to ruin

   Synonym: arruinar

9. (colloquial) to kill (to annoy)

   Synonyms: incomodar, molestar

10. (colloquial) to kill (to get mad at)
11. (colloquial) to kill (to amaze, exceed, stun)

    Synonyms: sorprender, asombrar

12. (colloquial) to beat (to be better than)
13. to postmark

    Synonym: matasellar

14. (reflexive) to kill oneself, to commit suicide
15. (reflexive) to be killed, to meet one’s death
16. (reflexive) to become galled, to become chafed, to get sores (said of horses)
17. (reflexive) to wear oneself out

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

References

Further reading

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

Swedish

Verb

matar

1. present indicative of mata

Anagrams

• Marta, ramat