# esmerar
## Galician
### Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Vulgar Latin *exmerāre (“to purify”), from Latin ex merēre.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [esmeˈɾaɾ]

### Verb

esmerar (first-person singular present esmero, first-person singular preterite esmerei, past participle esmerado)
* (transitive) to clean, purify
** c. 1300, R. Martínez López, editor, General Estoria. Versión gallega del siglo XIV, Oviedo: Archivum, page 271:cõmo faz a lyma ao ferro, et a fornaz ao ouro que o purga et esmera et o faz puro et paresçe mellor, et cõmo faz outrosi o máále áá messe que a degrana em çeueyra et parte a palla do graão que e o melloras the file does to iron, and the furnace to gold, that purges and cleans it and makes it pure and looks better; and also as the flail does to the harvest, that threshes it into sustenance and parts the straw and the grain, which is the best part
* (pronominal) to work with effort and dedication

#### Conjugation

$^1$Less recommended.

#### Derived terms

* esmerado
* esmero

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “esmerar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “esmer”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “esmerar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* “esmerar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “esmerar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

## Portuguese
### Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *exmerāre (“to purify”), from Latin ex merēre. Compare Spanish esmerar.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /iz.meˈɾa(ʁ)/ [iz.meˈɾa(h)], /ez.meˈɾa(ʁ)/ [ez.meˈɾa(h)]
* (Brazil) IPA: /iz.meˈɾa(ʁ)/ [iz.meˈɾa(h)], /ez.meˈɾa(ʁ)/ [ez.meˈɾa(h)]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /iz.meˈɾa(ɾ)/, /ez.meˈɾa(ɾ)/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /iʒ.meˈɾa(ʁ)/ [iʒ.meˈɾa(χ)], /eʒ.meˈɾa(ʁ)/ [eʒ.meˈɾa(χ)]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ez.meˈɾa(ɻ)/
* (Portugal) IPA: /(i)ʒ.mɨˈɾaɾ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /(i)ʒ.mɨˈɾaɾ/
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /(i)ʒ.mɨˈɾa.ɾi/
* Hyphenation: es‧me‧rar

### Verb

esmerar (first-person singular present esmero, first-person singular preterite esmerei, past participle esmerado)
* to hone (to refine or master a skill)
    Synonyms: aperfeiçoar, apurar

#### Conjugation

$^1$Brazilian Portuguese. $^2$European Portuguese.

#### Derived terms

* esmero

### Further reading

* “esmerar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* “esmerar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Spanish
### Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *exmerāre (“to purify”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /esmeˈɾaɾ/ [ez.meˈɾaɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: es‧me‧rar

### Verb

esmerar (first-person singular present esmero, first-person singular preterite esmeré, past participle esmerado)
* (transitive) to clean
    Synonyms: pulir, limpiar, ilustrar
* (pronominal) to hone, to painstakingly do something

#### Conjugation

$^1$Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language. $^2$Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

#### Derived terms

* esmerado
* esmerarse
* esmero

### Further reading

* “esmerar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10