encantar

Likely a Semi-learned borrowing from Latin incantāre. By surface analysis, en- +‎ cantar.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əŋ.kənˈta]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [eŋ.kanˈtaɾ]
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encantí, past participle encantat)

1. to enchant, charm, delight
2. to bewitch, put a spell on

• In the sense translated as 'love', subject and object are reversed from those of to love. That is, the subject of encantar is the thing that is loved and the indirect object is the person loving it. As the object is indirect, a third-person subject is supplemented with the preposition a, or substituted by pronouns li/els.
• M'encanta l'hivern. — I love winter a lot. (literally to me winter loves a lot)

• encantador
• encanteri

• cantar

• “encantar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “encantar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “encantar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “encantar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Old Galician-Portuguese encantar, from Latin incantāre, possibly taken as a semi-learned term. Equivalent to en- +‎ cantar.

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encantei, past participle encantado)

1. to enchant, charm

• cantar

From Latin incantāre.

encantar

1. to enchant, charm, delight
2. to love

From Old Galician-Portuguese encantar, from Latin incantāre, possibly taken as a semi-learned term. By surface analysis, en- +‎ cantar.

• (Northeast Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.kɐ̃.ˈta(h)/
• Hyphenation: en‧can‧tar

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encantei, past participle encantado)

1. to enchant, charm
2. to delight
3. to bewitch, put a spell on

• cantar

From Latin incantāre, possibly taken as a semi-learned term. Equivalent to en- +‎ cantar.

• IPA^(key): /enkanˈtaɾ/ [ẽŋ.kãn̪ˈt̪aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: en‧can‧tar

encantar (first-person singular present encanto, first-person singular preterite encanté, past participle encantado)

1. to charm, to enchant
2. to please, to delight

   Synonym: gustar mucho

   Me encantan los mariscos.

   I love seafood.

   (literally, “Seafood delights me.”)

3. to bewitch

   Synonym: embrujar

• The English verb to love (i.e., to like very much, referring to non-human objects or activities) is usually translated to and from Spanish as encantar. This causes confusion for some English speakers studying Spanish, since the subject and object of encantar are seemingly reversed from those of to love. That is, the subject of encantar is the thing that "delights", and the (indirect) object is the one who "loves" that thing. (The related verb gustar ("to like") usually functions the same way as well.)

A commonly used method is to think of encantar as literally meaning "to delight" or "to be very pleasing to":

No me encantaron las patatas fritas. ― I didn't like the fries very much. (literally, “The fries were not very pleasing to me.”)

A los perros les encanta ladrar todo el día. ― Dogs love to bark all day. (literally, “Barking all day delights dogs.”)

A María le encantan los pueblitos. ― María loves little villages. (literally, “Little villages delight María.”)

Note that the indirect object pronoun is usually compulsory before encantar, even if the object itself is also present in the sentence. The only exception is if the object is a universal pronoun such as todo or nadie, in which case the extra pronoun is often optional:

«¿Crees que esta canción le encanta a Raquel?» «Pues claro, ¡la canción (le) encanta a todo el mundo!» ― "Do you think Raquel loves this song?" "Well of course, everyone loves the song!"

Also, in its conditional form, encantar can be used to express wishes or polite requests, in the same way as would love in English:

Nos encantaría conocerte. ― We would love to meet you.

• The verb is seldom used when expressing love for a person; more commonly used verbs in such contexts include amar (for romantic love), querer (for platonic or familial love; can also be used romantically) and caer muy bien (for just getting along with someone).
• When used to mean to love or to delight (as above), the verb takes an indirect object; on the other hand, when used to mean to bewitch (in the literal sense), it takes a direct object. Contrast the following:

Las espinacas le encantaron. ― She loved the spinach. (literally, “The spinach delighted her.”)

Las ancianas la encantaron. ― The elderly women bewitched her.

• prendar

• “encantar”, 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