empurrar

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese *enpurrar (attested as the hapax derived term enpurron); further etymology is unknown. Joan Coromines claims the word is unrelated to empuxar and proposes a connection with apurrar (“to incite”) and apurrir (“to put closer”) instead, which would ultimately derive it from Latin porrigere.^[1] Cognate with Portuguese empurrar and likely Asturian emburriar.

For more information, see also the Portuguese entry below.

• IPA^(key): /empuˈraɾ/ [em.puˈraɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ

empurrar (first-person singular present empurro, first-person singular preterite empurrei, past participle empurrado)

1. to push

   Synonyms: apuxar, cotifar, empuxar

2. to incite, egg on

   Synonyms: apurrar, incitar

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “empurrar”, 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), “empurrar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “empurrar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese *enpurrar (attested as the hapax derived term enpurron); further etymology is unknown. Cognate with Galician empurrar and, according to Joan Coromines, Asturian emburriar. Coromines claims the word is unrelated to empuxar and ultimately connects it to Latin porrigere.^[1]

Most modern dictionaries claim the word was borrowed from Spanish empujar (“to push”), which would make it a doublet of the inherited empuxar as well as the Latin borrowing impulsar. However, this etymology is unlikely, seeing as the word is attested at a time when Spanish ⟨j⟩ was still pronounced as /ʃ/, and Portuguese ⟨rr⟩ as /r/. The pronunciations of these words in their respective languages only became more similar in later centuries.

For more information, see also empurrão and the Galician entry above.

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

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• Hyphenation: em‧pur‧rar

empurrar (first-person singular present empurro, first-person singular preterite empurrei, past participle empurrado) (transitive)

1. to push (apply a force to an object so that it moves away)

   Synonym: empuxar

   Antonyms: puxar, empuxar

   • 1614, Fernão Mendez Pinto, “Como Antonio de Faria pelejou co coſſayro Coja Acem, & do q̃ com elle lhe ſocedeo [How Antonio de Faria fought the privateer Coja Acém, and of what happened to him]” (chapter LIX), in Peregrinaçam de Fernam Mendez Pinto [Fernão Mendes Pinto’s Peregrination], 1st edition, Lisbon: Pedro Crasbeeck, page 64v:

     […] o empurrou tão rijo que deu com elle da eſcotilha abaixo […]

     […] he pushed him so roughly that he sent him down the hatch […]

   • 2005, J. K. Rowling, translated by Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe [Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince] (Harry Potter; 6), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 359:

     Ele se aproximou e experimentou empurrá-la.

     He came closer and tried to push it.

2. to push (continually promote a point of view, product, etc.)

   O vendedor ficou me empurrando essa caixinha de som, e acabou que eu voltei com três.

   The salesman kept pushing these speakers to me, and I ended up coming home with three.

   • 1708, “Do Emperador Carlos IV. & de Theodorico Monge de Ciſter [Of Emperor Charles IV, and of Theodorico, Cistercian Monk]” (chapter III), in Nova Floresta, ou sylva de varios apophthegmas [New forest, or grove of many apophthegmata]‎^[3], 1st edition, volume II, Lisbon: Valentim da Costa Deslandes, Calumnia [Calumny], page 253:

     Mas ſobreveyo Perdiccas amigo de Agathocles, & empurrando hũa mentira com outra o tirou a ſalvo […]

     But Perdiccas, friend of Agathocles, appeared and, pushing one lie after the other, got him out safely […]

3. to force down (to swallow food forcefully)

   Obrigado, já comi demais. Nem que eu empurre.

   Thank you, I’ve eaten too much already. I couldn’t even force it down.

4. to wash down (to drink liquid to help to swallow food or a pill) (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

• “empurrar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “empurrar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “empurrar”, in Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisboa: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 2001–2025
• “empurrar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
• “empurrar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025