colocar

Borrowed from Latin collocāre (“place, put, assemble”). Compare the inherited doublet colgar.

colocar (first-person singular indicative present coloco, past participle colocáu)

1. to put, place
2. to tidy, tidy up

Learned borrowing from Latin collocāre (“place, put, assemble”). Compare the inherited doublet colgar.

colocar (first-person singular present coloco, first-person singular preterite coloquei, past participle colocado)

1. to put; place
2. to hire

   Synonyms: empregar, contratar

• “colocar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• “colocar” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).

• collocar (pre-reform spelling)

Learned borrowing from Latin collocāre (“to place, to put, to assemble”). Compare the inherited doublet colgar.

• (Northeast Brazil) IPA^(key): /kɔ.lɔˈka(h)/
• (Rural Central Brazil) IPA^(key): /ku.luˈka(ɹ)/
• Hyphenation: co‧lo‧car

colocar (first-person singular present coloco, first-person singular preterite coloquei, past participle colocado)

1. (transitive) to place; to put

   Synonyms: pôr, (informal) botar

   Antonyms: tirar, retirar

   Coloca as chaves em cima da mesa, faz favor. ― Put the keys on the table, please.

   • 1933, Graciliano Ramos, chapter I, in Cahetés‎^[1], 1st edition, Rio de Janeiro: Schmidt, page 7:

     Fui collocar a chicara na bandeja.

     I went to set the teacup on the tray.

2. (transitive) to put [in a situation]

   Synonyms: pôr, deixar

   Não reclame, pois foi você mesmo que se colocou nessa situação. ― Don’t complain, you put yourself in this situation.

   • 1880, Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho, “O annel do diplomata [The diplomat’s ring]”, in Contos e phantasias [Short stories and fantasies]‎^[2], 2nd edition, Lisbon: Parceria Antonio Maria Pereira, published 1905, page 146:

     O pobre rapaz, que conhecia a falsa posição em que se collocara com a sua phrase, sentia-se humilhado e como que vendido n’aquelle meio.

     The poor young lad, who knew the false position in which he had put himself with his phrase, felt humiliated and embarrassed in the group.

3. (transitive) to hire; to employ

   Synonyms: (more common) empregar, contratar

4. (transitive) to invest (to commit capital in the hope of financial return)

   Synonyms: (more common) investir, aplicar

5. (usually pronominal) to place (to earn a given spot in a competition’s result) [with em ‘in a position’ or entre (+ plural noun) ‘among a set of positions’]

   Synonym: ganhar

   Ele se colocou em último lugar na maratona. ― He got last place in the marathon.

   É praticamente impossível se colocar entre os três primeiros. ― It’s nearly impossible to place in the top three positions.

6. (transitive) to put forth [a question]

   A entrevistadora colocou uma pergunta interessante. ― The interviewer put forth an interesting question.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:colocar.

• LUFT, Celso Pedro. Microdicionário de língua portuguesa Luft. São Paulo, Brazil: Ática, 2000. →ISBN

Borrowed from Latin collocāre (“place, put, assemble”). Compare the inherited doublet colgar. Cognate with English collocate and couch.

• IPA^(key): /koloˈkaɾ/ [ko.loˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: co‧lo‧car

colocar (first-person singular present coloco, first-person singular preterite coloqué, past participle colocado)

1. to place
2. to put

   Synonym: poner

3. to get in

   No pude colocar palabras.

   I couldn't get a word in.

4. (reflexive, slang) to take drugs
5. (transitive, slang) to intoxicate (stupefy by doping with chemical substances such as alcohol)

• “colocar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024