zozobrar
Spanish
Etymology
Inherited from Old Spanish sozobrar, borrowed from Old Catalan sotsobrar, from sotsobre < sots + sobre, or from a Vulgar Latin *subsuperāre (“turn upside down”), from sub (“under”) + super (“over”).[1] Compare also French sombrer.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /θoθoˈbɾaɾ/ [θo.θoˈβ̞ɾaɾ] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
- IPA(key): /sosoˈbɾaɾ/ [so.soˈβ̞ɾaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
- Rhymes: -aɾ
- Syllabification: zo‧zo‧brar
Verb
zozobrar (first-person singular present zozobro, first-person singular preterite zozobré, past participle zozobrado)
- (nautical, intransitive) to capsize, flounder, sink
- (of a business or project, intransitive) to fail
- (of a person, intransitive) to worry, or fret; to be anxious
Conjugation
Conjugation of zozobrar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)
Related terms
Descendants
- → Portuguese: soçobrar
References
- ^ Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1983–1991), “zozobrar”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary][1] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos
Further reading
- “zozobrar”, 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
- Vicente Garcia de Diego, Diccionario Etimológico Español e Hispánico, pp. 379,427.