encontrar

encontrar (first-person singular indicative present encuentro, past participle encontráu)

1. alternative form of alcontrar

• alcontrar

From Old Galician-Portuguese encontrar (13^th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Late Latin *incontrāre, from Latin in + contrā. Compare Portuguese encontrar, Old French encontrer, Spanish encontrar.

• IPA^(key): /eŋkɔnˈtɾaɾ/ [eŋ.kɔn̪ˈt̪ɾaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ

encontrar (first-person singular present encontro, first-person singular preterite encontrei, past participle encontrado)

1. to meet, encounter

   Synonym: atopar

2. to find

   Synonym: atopar

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

From Old Galician-Portuguese encontrar, from Vulgar Latin *incontrāre, from Latin in + contrā. Compare Italian incontrare, Old French encontrer, Spanish encontrar.

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

encontrar (first-person singular present encontro, first-person singular preterite encontrei, past participle encontrado)

1. (pronominal, transitive) to meet [with com ‘with someone’]

   Antonym: desencontrar

   • 2003, J. K. Rowling, Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix, Rocco, page 254:

     Foi só uma idéia, pensei que você talvez gostasse de se encontrar comigo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (transitive) to find; to locate

   Synonyms: achar, localizar

   Antonym: perder

   • 2005, J. K. Rowling, translated by Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe [Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince] (Harry Potter; 6), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 215:

     Posso ajudá-lo a encontrar tudo...

     I can help you to find everything...

3. (pronominal, formal) to be located [intransitive; or transitive with em ‘in some place’]
4. (pronominal, figurative) to find oneself (to learn what kind of person one is)
5. (pronominal, transitive, figurative) to find one's place (to discover one's vocation) [with em ‘in something’]

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

From Latin in contra. Compare Portuguese encontrar, Italian incontrare, and French rencontrer.

• IPA^(key): /enkonˈtɾaɾ/ [ẽŋ.kõn̪ˈt̪ɾaɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: en‧con‧trar

encontrar (first-person singular present encuentro, first-person singular preterite encontré, past participle encontrado)

1. (transitive) to meet
2. (transitive) to find, encounter, come across

   Synonyms: hallar, trovar

   María y Gertrudis se escondieron cerca de las flores, y los chicos las encontraron a las chicas.

   Mary and Gertrude hid themselves near the flowers, and the boys found the girls.

   • 2025 January 2, Alaa Elassar, “El conductor del Tesla Cybertruck se disparó antes de la explosión, dice la policía”, in CNN en Español‎^[1]:

     Las autoridades no están identificando a Livelsberger como la persona encontrada dentro del Cybertruck porque el cuerpo encontrado dentro del vehículo estaba quemado hasta quedar irreconocible, dijo el sheriff de Las Vegas, Kevin McMahill, en una conferencia de prensa este jueves.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (intransitive or reflexive) to meet, bump into
4. (transitive) to think, consider, find

   Lo encuentro estúpido.

   I find that stupid.

5. to manage (to do something)

   Synonym: lograr

6. (reflexive) to be located

   A veces se considera que Venezuela se encuentra en el Caribe.

   Sometimes Venezuela is considered to be in the Caribbean.

7. (reflexive) to feel, be

   Solo tú sabes cómo te encuentras.

   Only you know how you're feeling.

   • 2016 December, “FARC pedirán perdón a familias de 11 diputados asesinados”, in Frontera.info‎^[2]:

     Tras encontrársele libre de cualquier sospecha quedó en libertad meses después.

     After finding him free of any suspicion, he was released months later.

• “encontrar”, 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

• entroncar