tropezar

• torpezar, trepezar, trompezar

From Old Galician-Portuguese entrepeçar (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), probably from Vulgar Latin *interpediare, from interpediō, from Latin inter- + pēs, pedis (“feet”) +‎ -iō, perhaps formed analogously to impediō (“to impede”). Cognate with Portuguese tropeçar and Spanish tropezar.

• IPA^(key): , (western)

tropezar (first-person singular present tropezo, first-person singular preterite tropecei, past participle tropezado)

1. (intransitive) to trip, stumble, bump into

   O que tropeza e non cai, máis adiante un paso vai (proverb) ― He who trips and doesn't fall, a step ahead he goes

   • c. 1295, R. Lorenzo, editor, La traducción gallega de la Crónica General y de la Crónica de Castilla, Ourense: I.E.O.P.F, page 510:

     Et ontrepeçou o caualo do Çide enos mouros mortos et caeu en terra

     And the Cid's horse stumbled on the dead Moors and fell to the ground

2. (intransitive) to get tripped up

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “entrepeçar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “ntrepeç”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “tropezar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “tropezar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “tropezar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• entropezar (obsolete)
• trompezar (colloquial)

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *interpediāre, from *interpediō (“to impede”), from Latin inter- + pēs, pedis (“feet”) +‎ -iō, perhaps formed analogously to impediō (“to impede”).

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /tɾopeˈθaɾ/
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /tɾopeˈsaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: tro‧pe‧zar

tropezar (first-person singular present tropiezo, first-person singular preterite tropecé, past participle tropezado)

1. (intransitive) to trip, stumble, bump into

   tropezar con dificultades ― to run into difficulties

2. (intransitive) to get tripped up
3. (reflexive) to meet (someone) by chance

   Synonym: topar

• Constructed as tropezar(se) con algo/alguien.

• “tropezar”, 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