espanto

See also: espantó

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [əsˈpan.tu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əsˈpan.to]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [esˈpan.to]

Verb

espanto

1. first-person singular present indicative of espantar

Galician

Etymology 1

Deverbal from espantar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [esˈpantʊ]

Noun

espanto m (plural espantos)

1. fright, terror
2. atrocity

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “espanto”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “espanto”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “espanto”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “espanto”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Etymology 2

Verb

espanto

1. first-person singular present indicative of espantar

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈpan.to/
• Rhymes: -anto
• Hyphenation: e‧spàn‧to

Participle

espanto (feminine espanta, masculine plural espanti, feminine plural espante)

1. past participle of espandere

Anagrams

• pastone, pensato, pestano, posante

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈpɐ̃.tu/, /esˈpɐ̃.tu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈpɐ̃.tu/, /esˈpɐ̃.tu/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /iʃˈpɐ̃.tu/, /eʃˈpɐ̃.tu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃˈpɐ̃.tu/

• Rhymes: -ɐ̃tu
• Hyphenation: es‧pan‧to

Etymology 1

Deverbal from espantar.

Noun

espanto m (plural espantos)

1. astonishment, amazement
   • 2024 August 21, Francisco Laranjeira, “Moscovo reivindica captura de Nova Iorque (mas a da Ucrânia…) [Moscow claims capture of New York (but the one in Ukraine…)]”, in SAPO‎^[1], retrieved 22 February 2025:

     Moscovo assegura ter capturado Nova Iorque: a alegação das forças militares russas, feita na passada terça-feira, causou espanto – no entanto, explica-se facilmente: em vez da metrópole dos Estados Unidos, a Rússia referia-se a uma cidade no leste ucraniano, anteriormente conhecida como Novgorodskoye.

     Moscow assures it has captured New York: the Russian military forces’ allegation, made last Tuesday, has caused astonishment – however, it is easily explained: instead of the metropolis in the United States, Russia referred to a city in the Ukrainian east, previously known as Novgorodskoye.

2. wonder

Etymology 2

Verb

espanto

1. first-person singular present indicative of espantar

Further reading

• “espanto”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “espanto”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈpanto/ [esˈpãn̪.t̪o]
• Rhymes: -anto
• Syllabification: es‧pan‧to

Etymology 1

Deverbal from espantar (“to scare”).

Noun

espanto m (plural espantos)

1. fright
2. ghost
3. horror, dread

Derived terms

• de espanto

Etymology 2

Verb

espanto

1. first-person singular present indicative of espantar

Further reading

• “espanto”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025