# acabar
## Asturian
### Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *accapāre. Compare Spanish and Portuguese acabar.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /akaˈbaɾ/ [a.kaˈβ̞aɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: a‧ca‧bar

### Verb

acabar (first-person singular indicative present acabo, past participle acabáu)
* to finish, end, finish off
* to manage, succeed
* (acabar de facer) To have just done (something)
* to die, die out

#### Related terms

* cabu

## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *accapāre. Compare Occitan acabar.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ə.kəˈβa]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ə.kəˈba]
* IPA: (Valencia) [a.kaˈbaɾ]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

### Verb

acabar (first-person singular present acabo, first-person singular preterite acabí, past participle acabat)
* (transitive) to finish, complete
    Ella ha acabat el batxillerat. ― She finished high school.
* (transitive, reflexive) to finish, complete
    El nen s'ha acabat el llibre. ― The boy has finished the book.
* (transitive) to give last touch to something
    Synonym: donar l'última mà
* (transitive) to use up, to exhaust
    Synonym: exhaurir
    Han acabat els diners. ― They have run out of money.
* (transitive, reflexive) to use up, to exhaust
    Synonym: exhaurir
    Ella s'ha acabat l'aigua. ― She has run out of water.
* (intransitive, reflexive) to run out, to be used up
    S'ha acabat l'aigua. ― The water has run out.
    s'ha acabat el bròquil!that's enough!(literally, “The broccoli has run out”)used to end a conversation, a list of objections, etc.
* (intransitive) to end
    Creia que el món acabaria ― I/he/she thought the world was going to end
    On acaba aquest camí? ― Where does this path end?
    acabar com el rosari de l'aurorato end up in fights and in an unfriendly way(literally, “to end like the rosary at dawn”)
* (intransitive, reflexive) to end
    Això no s'acaba mai ― This isn't ending ever
    El camí s'acaba aquí ― The path ends here.
* to have just done or completed something [with de (+ infinitive)]
    Acaba d'arribar. ― It has just arrived.
* (in the negative) to fail to do something [with de (+ infinitive)]
    No ho acabo d'entendre. ― I didn't understand that.
* (transitive) to end up, wind up
    Acabarà penjat. ― He'll end up hanged.
* (auxiliary followed by a gerund) to get finally to do something or to reach a certain state
    Acabarà tornant ― It will come again.
* to get finally to do something or to reach a certain state [with per (+ infinitive)]
    Acabarà per no tornar. ― It won't come again.

#### Derived terms

* acabador
* acaballes
* acabament
* s'ha acabat el bròquil

### Further reading

* “acabar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “acabar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “acabar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “acabar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Galician
### Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese acabar, from Vulgar Latin *accapāre. Compare Spanish and Portuguese acabar.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /akaˈbaɾ/ [ɑ.kɑˈβ̞aɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Hyphenation: a‧ca‧bar

### Verb

acabar (first-person singular present acabo, first-person singular preterite acabei, past participle acabado)
* (intransitive) to finish
* (transitive) to complete, finish
* (catenative) to end up [with gerund ‘doing something’]
* (catenative) to have just [with de (+ infinitive) ‘done something’]
    Acabo de chegar a casa. ― I have just gotten home.
* (intransitive) to destroy completely, to defeat thoroughly; to put an end to [with con]

#### Conjugation

$^1$Less recommended.

#### Related terms

* cabo

### References

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

## Occitan
### Alternative forms

* chabar

### Etymology

From Old Occitan, from Vulgar Latin *accapāre. Compare Catalan acabar.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Verb

acabar
* to finish; to complete

#### Derived terms

* acabada
* acabador
* acabadura
* acabament
* acabat

## Portuguese
### Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese acabar, from Vulgar Latin *accapāre. Compare Spanish acabar, French achever and English achieve. By surface analysis, a- +‎ cabo +‎ -ar.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /a.kaˈba(ʁ)/ [a.kaˈba(h)]
* (Brazil) IPA: /a.kaˈba(ʁ)/ [a.kaˈba(h)]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /a.kaˈba(ɾ)/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /a.kaˈba(ʁ)/ [a.kaˈba(χ)]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /a.kaˈba(ɻ)/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ɐ.kɐˈbaɾ/ [ɐ.kɐˈβaɾ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ɐ.kɐˈbaɾ/ [ɐ.kɐˈβaɾ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /ɐ.kɐˈba.ɾi/ [ɐ.kɐˈβa.ɾi]
* Audio (Northern Portugal):(file)
* Audio (Portugal):(file)
* Audio (Southern Brazil):(file)
* Hyphenation: a‧ca‧bar

### Verb

acabar (first-person singular present acabo, first-person singular preterite acabei, past participle acabado)
* (intransitive) to finish (to be over, completed)
    Synonyms: terminar, finalizar
    Antonym: começar
    O filme acabou. ― The film is over.
* (transitive) to complete; to finish (to make done)
    Synonyms: terminar, completar, finalizar, concluir
    Antonyms: iniciar, começar, inicializar
    Acabe suas tarefas antes de sair. ― Finish your chores before going out.
* (catenative) to end up (to eventually do) [with gerund ‘doing something’]
    Synonym: terminar por
    No fim, acabamos comendo naquele restaurante maltrapilho. ― In the end, we ended up eating at that shabby restaurant.
* (copulative) to end up; to turn out (to become, at the end of a process)
    Synonym: ficar
    De tanto misturarmos, a cor da tinta acabou cinza. ― Because we mixed it so much, the colour of the paint ended up grey.
* (auxiliary, with de + infinitive) See acabar de.
* (intransitive) to destroy completely, to defeat thoroughly [with com ‘someone’]
    Synonyms: destruir, matar
    O inseticida prometeu que acabaria com as baratas. ― The insecticide promised to exterminate cockroaches.
    Nosso time acabou com o deles! ― Our team murdered theirs!
* (intransitive) to break up; to put an end to (to make an activity or practice stop) [with com ‘something’]
    Essa lei acabará com a impunidade. ― This law will put an end to impunity.
* (intransitive) to break up with (to end a relationship with) [with com ‘someone’]
    Synonym: terminar com
    Ele acabou com ela. ― He broke up with her.
* (intransitive or pronominal) to run out (to be entirely used up)
    Synonym: esgotar-se
    Todo o dinheiro acabou. ― All the money ran out.

#### Conjugation

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

#### Descendants

* Kabuverdianu: kaba
* Macanese: cavâ
* → Guianese Creole: kaba
* → Sranan Tongo: kaba, kba
** Aukan: kaba, kaa
** Saramaccan: kabá

### Further reading

* “acabar”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
* “acabar”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
* “acabar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
* “acabar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* “acabar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
* “acabar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Spanish
### Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *accapāre. By surface analysis, a- +‎ cabo (“end, conclusion”) +‎ -ar.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /akaˈbaɾ/ [a.kaˈβ̞aɾ]
* Audio (Spain):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: a‧ca‧bar

### Verb

acabar (first-person singular present acabo, first-person singular preterite acabé, past participle acabado)
* (transitive) to finish; to end
    Synonyms: terminar, finalizar, rematar
* (catenative) to end up (eventually doing) [with gerund ‘doing something’]
    Acabarás haciendo lo que él diga.You'll end up doing what he says.
* (catenative) to have just; just (indicates recency) [with de (+ infinitive) ‘done something’]
    Acabo de dormir ocho horas pero todavía estoy cansada.I just slept eight hours but I still feel tired.
* (pronominal) to run out of
    Se me acabó la paciencia.I've run out of patience.
* (pronominal) to come to an end, to be over, to be done, to be finished, to be it, to be no more, to be up
    Lo siento. Su tiempo se acabó, señor.I am sorry. Your time is up, sir.
* (Latin America, vulgar, slang) to orgasm; to cum
    Synonyms: venirse, irse, correrse, eyacular

#### 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.
$^1$Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language. $^2$Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

#### Derived terms

* acabamiento
* acabar con (“to finish; to put an end to”)
* acabar de (“to have just”)
* acabar de una vez (“to get it over with, to be done with it”)
* acabar por (“to end up”)
* acabarse
* de nunca acabar
* muerto el perro, se acabó la rabia
* quien empieza ganando acaba llorando
* se acabó la fiesta
* y se acabó lo que se daba

### Further reading

* “acabar”, 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