cecear

Portuguese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /se.seˈa(ʁ)/ [se.seˈa(h)]
- (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /se.seˈa(ɾ)/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /se.seˈa(ʁ)/ [se.seˈa(χ)]
- (Caipira) IPA^(key): /se.seˈa(ɻ)/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨˈsjaɾ/
- (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨˈsja.ɾi/

Hyphenation: ce‧ce‧ar

Verb

cecear (first-person singular present ceceio, first-person singular preterite ceceei, past participle ceceado)

to lisp (to pronounce the sibilant letter /s/ imperfectly)

Conjugation

Conjugation of cecear (e becomes ei when stressed) (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	cecear
Personal	cecear	ceceares	cecear	cecearmos	ceceardes	cecearem
Gerund
	ceceando
Past participle
Masculine	ceceado			ceceados
Feminine	ceceada			ceceadas
Indicative
Present	ceceio	ceceias	ceceia	ceceamos	ceceais	ceceiam
Imperfect	ceceava	ceceavas	ceceava	ceceávamos	ceceáveis	ceceavam
Preterite	ceceei	ceceaste	ceceou	ceceamos¹, ceceámos²	ceceastes	cecearam
Pluperfect	ceceara	cecearas	ceceara	ceceáramos	ceceáreis	cecearam
Future	cecearei	cecearás	ceceará	cecearemos	ceceareis	cecearão
Conditional	cecearia	cecearias	cecearia	cecearíamos	cecearíeis	ceceariam
Subjunctive
Present	ceceie	ceceies	ceceie	ceceemos	ceceeis	ceceiem
Imperfect	ceceasse	ceceasses	ceceasse	ceceássemos	ceceásseis	ceceassem
Future	cecear	ceceares	cecear	cecearmos	ceceardes	cecearem
Imperative
Affirmative		ceceia	ceceie	ceceemos	ceceai	ceceiem
Negative (não)		não ceceies	não ceceie	não ceceemos	não ceceeis	não ceceiem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Further reading

“cecear”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
“cecear”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /θeθeˈaɾ/ [θe.θeˈaɾ] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
IPA^(key): /seseˈaɾ/ [se.seˈaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
Rhymes: -aɾ
Syllabification: ce‧ce‧ar

Verb

cecear (first-person singular present ceceo, first-person singular preterite ceceé, past participle ceceado)

(intransitive) to make a sibilant noise

Conjugation

Conjugation of cecear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

		singular			plural
infinitive			cecear
gerund			ceceando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		ceceado		ceceada
		plural		ceceados		ceceadas
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	ceceo	ceceas^{^tú} ceceás^{^vos}	cecea	ceceamos	ceceáis	cecean
	imperfect	ceceaba	ceceabas	ceceaba	ceceábamos	ceceabais	ceceaban
	preterite	ceceé	ceceaste	ceceó	ceceamos	ceceasteis	cecearon
	future	cecearé	cecearás	ceceará	cecearemos	cecearéis	cecearán
	conditional	cecearía	cecearías	cecearía	cecearíamos	cecearíais	cecearían

subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cecee	cecees^{^tú} ceceés^{^vos²}	cecee	ceceemos	ceceéis	ceceen
	imperfect (ra)	ceceara	cecearas	ceceara	ceceáramos	cecearais	cecearan
	imperfect (se)	cecease	ceceases	cecease	ceceásemos	ceceaseis	ceceasen
	future¹	ceceare	ceceares	ceceare	ceceáremos	ceceareis	cecearen

imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		cecea^{^tú} ceceá^{^vos}	cecee	ceceemos	cecead	ceceen
	negative		no cecees	no cecee	no ceceemos	no ceceéis	no ceceen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

Related terms

Descendants

→ Neapolitan: zecchiare

Further reading

“cecear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025