cercenar
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin circināre, present active infinitive of circinō (“to make round”). Compare Portuguese cercear.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Spain) /θeɾθeˈnaɾ/ [θeɾ.θeˈnaɾ]
- IPA(key): (Latin America) /seɾseˈnaɾ/ [seɾ.seˈnaɾ]
- Rhymes: -aɾ
- Syllabification: cer‧ce‧nar
Verb
cercenar (first-person singular present cerceno, first-person singular preterite cercené, past participle cercenado)
- (transitive, also figuratively) to curtail, cut, sever, cut short
- Synonyms: cortar, amputar
- 1637, Baltasar Gracián, “Primor XI”, in El héroe:
- Prosperidad muy aprisa, atropellándose unas a otras las felicidades, siempre fue sospechosa; porque suele la fortuna cercenar del tiempo lo que acumula del favor.
- Quick prosperity, with joyous moments tripping over each other, was always suspicious; because fortune tends to cut off from time what it accumulates from favor.
Conjugation
Conjugation of cercenar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)
infinitive | cercenar | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gerund | cercenando | ||||||
past participle | masculine | feminine | |||||
singular | cercenado | cercenada | |||||
plural | cercenados | cercenadas | |||||
singular | plural | ||||||
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
indicative | yo | tú vos | él/ella/ello usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ellos/ellas ustedes | |
present | cerceno | cercenastú cercenásvos | cercena | cercenamos | cercenáis | cercenan | |
imperfect | cercenaba | cercenabas | cercenaba | cercenábamos | cercenabais | cercenaban | |
preterite | cercené | cercenaste | cercenó | cercenamos | cercenasteis | cercenaron | |
future | cercenaré | cercenarás | cercenará | cercenaremos | cercenaréis | cercenarán | |
conditional | cercenaría | cercenarías | cercenaría | cercenaríamos | cercenaríais | cercenarían | |
subjunctive | yo | tú vos | él/ella/ello usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ellos/ellas ustedes | |
present | cercene | cercenestú cercenésvos2 | cercene | cercenemos | cercenéis | cercenen | |
imperfect (ra) | cercenara | cercenaras | cercenara | cercenáramos | cercenarais | cercenaran | |
imperfect (se) | cercenase | cercenases | cercenase | cercenásemos | cercenaseis | cercenasen | |
future1 | cercenare | cercenares | cercenare | cercenáremos | cercenareis | cercenaren | |
imperative | — | tú vos | usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ustedes | |
affirmative | cercenatú cercenávos | cercene | cercenemos | cercenad | cercenen | ||
negative | no cercenes | no cercene | no cercenemos | no cercenéis | no cercenen |
1Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
2Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
Selected combined forms of cercenar
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
with infinitive cercenar | |||||||
dative | cercenarme | cercenarte | cercenarle, cercenarse | cercenarnos | cercenaros | cercenarles, cercenarse | |
accusative | cercenarme | cercenarte | cercenarlo, cercenarla, cercenarse | cercenarnos | cercenaros | cercenarlos, cercenarlas, cercenarse | |
with gerund cercenando | |||||||
dative | cercenándome | cercenándote | cercenándole, cercenándose | cercenándonos | cercenándoos | cercenándoles, cercenándose | |
accusative | cercenándome | cercenándote | cercenándolo, cercenándola, cercenándose | cercenándonos | cercenándoos | cercenándolos, cercenándolas, cercenándose | |
with informal second-person singular tú imperative cercena | |||||||
dative | cercéname | cercénate | cercénale | cercénanos | not used | cercénales | |
accusative | cercéname | cercénate | cercénalo, cercénala | cercénanos | not used | cercénalos, cercénalas | |
with informal second-person singular vos imperative cercená | |||||||
dative | cercename | cercenate | cercenale | cercenanos | not used | cercenales | |
accusative | cercename | cercenate | cercenalo, cercenala | cercenanos | not used | cercenalos, cercenalas | |
with formal second-person singular imperative cercene | |||||||
dative | cercéneme | not used | cercénele, cercénese | cercénenos | not used | cercéneles | |
accusative | cercéneme | not used | cercénelo, cercénela, cercénese | cercénenos | not used | cercénelos, cercénelas | |
with first-person plural imperative cercenemos | |||||||
dative | not used | cercenémoste | cercenémosle | cercenémonos | cercenémoos | cercenémosles | |
accusative | not used | cercenémoste | cercenémoslo, cercenémosla | cercenémonos | cercenémoos | cercenémoslos, cercenémoslas | |
with informal second-person plural imperative cercenad | |||||||
dative | cercenadme | not used | cercenadle | cercenadnos | cercenaos | cercenadles | |
accusative | cercenadme | not used | cercenadlo, cercenadla | cercenadnos | cercenaos | cercenadlos, cercenadlas | |
with formal second-person plural imperative cercenen | |||||||
dative | cercénenme | not used | cercénenle | cercénennos | not used | cercénenles, cercénense | |
accusative | cercénenme | not used | cercénenlo, cercénenla | cercénennos | not used | cercénenlos, cercénenlas, cercénense |
Derived terms
- cercenador
- cercenadura
- cercenamiento
Related terms
- cercen
Further reading
- “cercenar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014