empecer

From Old Galician-Portuguese empeecer (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Vulgar Latin *impedīscere, inchoative of Latin impediō, impedīre.

• IPA^(key): /empɛˈθeɾ/

empecer (first-person singular present empezo, first-person singular preterite empecín, past participle empecido)
empecer (first-person singular present empeço, first-person singular preterite empecim or empeci, past participle empecido, reintegrationist norm)

1. (now literary) to impede
2. (now literary) to harm
   • 1486, X. Ferro Couselo, editor, A vida e a fala dos devanceiros. Escolma de documentos en galego dos séculos XIII ao XVI, Vigo: Galaxia, page 193:

     Onde for borado non enpeça

     It should not maim [the validity of this documents] wherever it is smudged

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “empecer”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “enpee”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “empecer”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “empecer”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “empecer”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “empecer” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “empecer”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese empeecer, from Vulgar Latin *impedīscere, inchoative of Latin impedīre. Compare Galician and Spanish empecer

empecer (first-person singular present empeço, first-person singular preterite empeci, past participle empecido)

1. (transitive) to harm; to prejudice
2. (transitive, intransitive) to prevent; to impede

• empecilho
• impedir

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *impediscere, from Latin impedīre.

• IPA^(key): /empeˈθeɾ/ [ẽm.peˈθeɾ] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /empeˈseɾ/ [ẽm.peˈseɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: em‧pe‧cer

empecer (third-person only, third-person singular present empece, third-person singular preterite empeció, past participle empecido)

1. (obsolete, transitive) to harm, maim
2. (transitive, intransitive) to impede, hinder

• “empecer”, 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