tocar

From Vulgar Latin *toccāre, *tuccāre, of Germanic or onomatopoeic origin.

• IPA^(key): /toˈka(ɾ)/
• Syllabification: to‧car
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

tocar

1. (transitive) to touch

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “tocar”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

From Vulgar Latin *toccāre, *tuccāre, of Germanic or onomatopoeic origin.

• IPA^(key): /toˈkaɾ/ [t̪oˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: to‧car

tocar (first-person singular indicative present toco, past participle tocáu)

1. to touch
2. to play (an instrument)

• “tocar” in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana. Xosé Lluis García Arias. →ISBN.

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *toccāre, *tuccāre, of Germanic or onomatopoeic origin.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [tuˈka]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [toˈka]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [toˈkaɾ]
• Homophones: tocà, tucà
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

tocar (first-person singular present toco, first-person singular preterite toquí, past participle tocat); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /ɔ/

1. to touch
2. to feel
3. to press (a switch, button)
4. to play (a musical instrument)

• pertocar
• toc
• tocar el dos
• tocar i parar

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

From Old Galician-Portuguese tocar, from Vulgar Latin *toccāre, *tuccāre, of Germanic or onomatopoeic origin.

• IPA^(key): /toˈkaɾ/ [t̪oˈkɑɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: to‧car

tocar (first-person singular present toco, first-person singular preterite toquei, past participle tocado)

1. to touch

   Synonym: tanguer

   • 1454, E. Cal Pardo, editor, Colección diplomática medieval do arquivo da catedral de Mondoñedo, Santiago: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 315:

     Para o qual o dito Ferrnand Dourado fezo juramento solepne aos santo euangeos en hun libro misal que tocou con suas maos

     For which said Fernando Dourado swore a solemn oath to the Holy Gospels in a missal book that he touched with his hands

2. to play (a musical instrument or a musical recording)

   Synonym: tanguer

3. (intransitive) to knock

   Synonym: petar

   Quen toca na porta? ― Who's knocking on the door?

4. to ring

   Synonym: tanguer

5. (impersonal) to be awarded; to win, obtain

   Ó que máis tarda menos lle toca (proverb) ― He who delays more gets less

6. (impersonal) to be someone's time or turn

   Tócame! ― It's my turn!

• tocadiscos

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

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

• tochar

From Vulgar Latin *toccāre, *tuccāre, of Germanic or onomatopoeic origin.

• Audio:

  (file)

tocar

1. to touch
2. to play (a musical instrument)

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

From Old Galician-Portuguese [Term?], from Vulgar Latin *toccāre, *tuccāre, of Germanic or onomatopoeic origin.

• Hyphenation: to‧car

tocar (first-person singular present toco, first-person singular preterite toquei, past participle tocado)

1. (transitive or intransitive) to touch, to finger, to feel (tactually) [transitive or with em ‘something’]

   Toquei levemente (em) seu braço ― I slighty touched his arm

   Synonyms: sentir, dedilhar, roçar, apalpar, pôr a mão

2. (intransitive, figurative) to start addressing [with em ‘a particular subject or issue’]

   Já que você tocou nessa questão, vamos continuar ― Since you began talking about that issue, let's continue

3. (transitive) to play (a musical instrument)

   Ela toca piano muito bem ― She plays the piano very well

4. (transitive) to sound, jingle, to honk, to ring (a bell, alarm, horn or similar object)

   Toque a campainha! ― Ring the bell!

   Não deveríamos ter tocado o alarme. ― We shouldn't have sounded the alarm.

   Synonym: soar (alarm)

   Synonyms: badalar, bater (bell)

5. (transitive, Brazil, informal) to kick out, to expulse

   Alguém precisa tocá-lo daqui ― Someone has to kick him out from here

6. (reflexive, Brazil, informal) to become aware; to realize or perceive

   Só me toquei depois. ― I only realized it later.

   Synonyms: ligar, dar-se conta

When used transitively in its most frequent sense ("to touch"), the verb tocar is typically followed by the preposition em. Despite its popularity, this addition is completely optional and doesn't alter the verb's meaning.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:tocar.

• tocar no assunto (idiomatic)
• tocante

• Macanese: tocâ

• “tocar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “tocar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “tocar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

• IPA^(key): /toˈkaɾ/ [t̪oˈkaɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: to‧car

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *toccāre, *tuccāre, of Germanic or onomatopoeic origin.

tocar (first-person singular present toco, first-person singular preterite toqué, past participle tocado)

1. (transitive) to touch

   Toca esta tela. ― Touch this cloth.

2. (transitive) to play (a musical instrument)

   Ella toca el piano. ― She plays the piano.

3. (impersonal, intransitive) to be someone's time or turn

   Synonyms: seguir, ser el siguiente

   Ahora me toca jugar. ― Now it's my turn to play.

   le toca a él ― it's his turn

4. (impersonal, intransitive) to have to do something, be obligated to do

   Le tocó aprender hebreo. ― She had to learn Hebrew. (It was necessary (for) her to learn Hebrew)

   Deberías estudiar para que no te toque ir a la escuela de verano. ― You should study so you don't have to go to summer school.

5. (transitive) to knock

   tocar la puerta ― to knock on the door

6. (transitive) to honk

   tocar la bocina ― to honk the horn

7. (transitive) to ring

   tocar un timbre ― to ring a doorbell

8. (transitive) to touch on (mention briefly)

   Vamos a tocar el tema de las finanzas personales. ― We're going to touch on the topic of personal finance.

9. (intransitive) to touch (affect emotionally)

   Sinceramente la película me tocó. ― To be honest, the movie [deeply] touched me.

   Esa triste historia le tocó. ― That sad story touched him.

10. (transitive, baseball) to bunt

From toca (“headscarf, wimple, kind of hat”).

tocar (first-person singular present toco, first-person singular preterite toqué, past participle tocado)

1. to comb or dress one's hair
2. to don a hat, scarf or other head covering

• “tocar”, 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

• actor
• corta

From Vulgar Latin *toccāre, *tuccāre, of Germanic or onomatopoeic origin.

tocar

1. (transitive) to touch

* Venetan conjugation varies from one region to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

• tastar