soponcio

Unknown. Various theories exist:

• From Vulgar Latin sopiō.
• From a crossing between sopetón and *arreponcio.
• From a Late Latin phrase sub Pontiō Pīlātō, which supposedly meant crucified under Pontius Pilate.

• IPA^(key): /soˈponθjo/ [soˈpõn̟.θjo] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /soˈponsjo/ [soˈpõn.sjo] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -onθjo (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• Rhymes: -onsjo (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: so‧pon‧cio

soponcio m (plural soponcios)

1. (colloquial) swoon, faint, anguish

   Synonyms: desmayo, congoja, síncope

   le va a dar un soponcio

   it's going to make her faint

   • 1897, Benito Pérez Galdós, Misericordia:

     Un momento después, habíase enterado el galán fiambre de su participación en la herencia del primo Rafael, quedándose en tal manera turulato, que hubo de beberse, para evitar un soponcio, toda el agua que dejara Doña Francisca.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• “soponcio”, 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