halagar

Inherited from Old Spanish falagar. Further propositions are many: in 1884 the Royal Spanish Academy said from Arabic حَلَاوَة (ḥalāwa, “pleasing, agreeable thing”); in 1899 from Latin flagitāre (“to solicit”); in 1956 from Arabic خَلَقَ (ḵalaqa, “to make, forge, lie, polish, perfume”),^[1] which Coromines and Pascual support while mentioning a related خَالَقَ (ḵālaqa, “to treat someone kindly”);^[2] in 2001 from Andalusian Arabic هَالَاق (ẖaláq, “thief pigeon”). Other possibilities: from Basque palagau (“to flatter, calm, give”), from Hebrew הלל (the -gar ending from Latin -icare as with cabalgar, comulgar, amargar; the last -l of the theme omitted for repetition, see idolatry).

See Galician afagar, Asturian afalagar, Basque balakatu (“to flatter”), Basque palagukeria (“flattery”), Basque palagu (“flattery, caress”), Basque palaguka (“caressing”, adv.), Aragonese falaguera (“impertinent extravagant desire, passion, swelter”), Catalan afalagar (“to stroke, flatter”), Catalan falaguera f sg (“flattering, satisfying, contenting, appeasing, placating; light, quick: charm, charisma, grace, pull”, adj., hence n.).

• IPA^(key): /alaˈɡaɾ/ [a.laˈɣ̞aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: ha‧la‧gar

halagar (first-person singular present halago, first-person singular preterite halagué, past participle halagado)

1. (transitive) to make much of, to flatter, to entice

   Synonym: adular

2. (transitive) to praise, to make much of

   Synonym: alabar

3. (transitive) to caress, to please, to gratify, to soothe, to appease, to cocker

   Synonyms: acariciar, agradar, calmar, aliviar

• “halagar”, 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