espatllar

Classically, experts relate it to espatlla ("shoulder"), with unclear shift in meaning. New theories postulate that it may be a phonetic variant of espanyar ("spoil", "break"), with the same meaning.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əs.pəʎˈʎa]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əs.pəˈʎa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [es.palˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

espatllar (first-person singular present espatllo, first-person singular preterite espatllí, past participle espatllat)

1. (transitive, also pronominal) to spoil; break

   Synonym: malmetre

   La ràdio no funciona, s'ha espatllat. ― The radio does not work, it's broken.

• “espatllar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “espatllar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “espatllar”, 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