enfermar

From Old Galician-Portuguese enfermar (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin īnfirmāre (“weaken, shake”).

• IPA^(key): [eɱfeɾˈmaɾ]

enfermar (first-person singular present enfermo, first-person singular preterite enfermei, past participle enfermado)

1. (intransitive) to become ill; to get sick

   Antonym: sandar

2. (transitive) to make ill; to sicken

   Antonym: sandar

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “enfermar”, 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), “nferm”, 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), “enfermar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “enfermar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “enfermar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “enfermar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

From Old Galician-Portuguese enfermar, from Latin īnfirmāre (“weaken, shake”).

• Hyphenation: en‧fer‧mar

enfermar (first-person singular present enfermo, first-person singular preterite enfermei, past participle enfermado)

1. (intransitive) to become ill; to get sick

   Synonyms: adoecer, acabrunhar, acamar, encamar

2. (transitive) to make ill; to sicken

   Synonyms: adoecer, acabrunhar, acamar, encamar

• “enfermar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “enfermar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “enfermar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “enfermar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Inherited from Latin īnfirmāre (“weaken, shake”).

• IPA^(key): /enfeɾˈmaɾ/ [ẽɱ.feɾˈmaɾ]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: en‧fer‧mar

enfermar (first-person singular present enfermo, first-person singular preterite enfermé, past participle enfermado)

1. (transitive) to make ill; to sicken
   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 35:

     El Colocolo es un ratoncillo que tiene el fatal poder de hacer que enferme de muerte la persona cuya saliva bebe o cuyas sobras come.

     The Colocolo is a small mouse which has the fatal ability to make a person whose saliva it drinks or whose remains it eats terminally ill.

2. (reflexive) to become ill; to get sick
   • 2023 October 6, “Moderadores de Facebook en Barcelona enferman por el contenido atroz a revisar: "En mi cabeza ahora sólo hay muerte"”, in La Vanguardia‎^[1]

     Moderadores de Facebook en Barcelona enferman por el contenido atroz a revisar: "En mi cabeza ahora sólo hay muerte"

     Facebook moderators in Barcelona get sick from the atrocious content to check: "In my head now there is only death"

• “enfermar”, 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