manejar

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *manizāre. By surface analysis, man- (“hand”) +‎ -ejar (verb-forming suffix).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [mə.nəˈʒa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ma.neˈd͡ʒaɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

manejar (first-person singular present manejo, first-person singular preterite manegí, past participle manejat); root stress: (Central) /ɛ/; (Valencia) /e/; (Balearic) /ə/

1. (transitive) to handle, to manipulate
2. (transitive) to manage, to operate
3. (intransitive) to gesticulate
4. (pronominal) to move, shake, sway

• manejable
• manejadís
• manejament

• “manejar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

• manear

Either inherited from Vulgar Latin *manizāre or borrowed through Italian maneggiare. By surface analysis, mão (“hand”) +‎ -ejar (verb-forming suffix).

• Hyphenation: ma‧ne‧jar

manejar (first-person singular present manejo, first-person singular preterite manejei, past participle manejado)

1. to manage
2. to handle

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

Borrowed from Italian maneggiare. Displaced the older Spanish manear, itself of the same origin (Vulgar Latin *manizāre). Compare English manage.

• IPA^(key): /maneˈxaɾ/ [ma.neˈxaɾ]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: ma‧ne‧jar

manejar (first-person singular present manejo, first-person singular preterite manejé, past participle manejado)

1. to handle
2. to manage

   Synonym: dirigir

3. (Latin America, US, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea) to drive (a vehicle)

   Synonym: conducir

   Tienes 23 años de edad y todavía no puedes manejar?

   You're 23 years old and still can't drive?

• “manejar”, 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
• “manejar”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010