matar

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matar

1. (transitive) to kill

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

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.

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

1. to kill

• 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.

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /məˈta/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /maˈtaɾ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

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

1. to kill

   Synonym: (formal) occir

2. to extinguish

   Synonyms: extingir, apagar

The past participle can optionally be mort.

• “matar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “matar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “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.

From Old Galician and Old 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.

• IPA^(key): /maˈtaɾ/

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

1. (transitive) to kill
2. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to accidently 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

6. first/third-person singular future subjunctive of matar
7. first/third-person singular personal infinitive of matar

• matachín
• matadoiro
• matador

• “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 Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “matar” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

matar (Latin spelling)

1. to kill

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

From Old 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”).[1]

• Hyphenation: ma‧tar

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

1. to kill (to cause to die)

   Mataram-no a tiros! ― They shot him dead! (literally, “[They] 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.

   Synonym: assassinar

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

   Matou-lhe as esperanças ― He killed his hopes.

   Synonyms: erradicar, destruir, acabar com

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

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

   Essas palavras matam! ― These words kill!

   Synonyms: acabar com, detonar, quebrar, arrebentar

4. (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.

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

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

   Synonyms: saciar, satisfazer

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

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

   Synonym: arrebentar-se

7. (colloquial, transitive) to spend [a period of time] doing unimportant things

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

   Synonym: passar

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

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

   Synonym: faltar

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

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

   Synonyms: resolver, solucionar

10. (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.

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

    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.

    Synonym: parar

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

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

    Synonym: encaçapar

13. inflection of matar:
    1. first/third-person singular future subjunctive
    2. first/third-person singular personal infinitive

For quotations using this term, see Citations:matar.

• (to commit suicide): suicidar

• “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, 2003–2023.
• “matar” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “matar” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

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

mȁtar m (Cyrillic spelling ма̏тар)

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

• amatar (obsolete)

Several possibilities:

• From Latin mactō (through a Vulgar Latin *mattō). Thus, a potential cognate with English mactate.[1]
• From Vulgar Latin *mattō, from Late Latin mattus (“drunk, intoxicated”), related to madidus. Compare Portuguese and Catalan matar, archaic Italian mattare.[2]
• 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.[3]

• IPA^(key): /maˈtaɾ/ [maˈt̪aɾ]

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: ma‧tar

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

• matarse
• matarife

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

matar

1. present tense of mata.

• Marta, ramat