tropezar

Galician

Alternative forms

• torpezar, trepezar, trompezar

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): , (western)

Verb

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

Conjugation

References

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

Spanish

Alternative forms

• entropezar (obsolete)
• trompezar (colloquial)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Verb

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

Usage notes

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

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

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