desencadenar
Spanish, verb/desenkadeˈnaɾ/
desencadenar is a Spanish verb meaning “to unchain, to unleash, to release” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Quitar la o las cadenas con que alguien estaba sujeto”.
What does desencadenar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to unchain, to unleash, to release
- 2
to trigger, unleash (to initiate something)
- 3
to burst; to erupt
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Quitar la o las cadenas con que alguien estaba sujeto. 2. Separar, romper o desunir la conexión, liga o vínculo que existía entre elementos, especialmente los abstractos o no materiales. 3. Referido a fenómenos meteorológicos, causar fuertes movimientos, con una dosis de violencia. 4. Dejar en libertad o causar emociones intensas, apasionadas y violentas.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of desencadenar
- desencadeno first-person present singular
- desencadené first-person preterite singular
- desencadenado participle past
- desencadenando gerund
- desencadenada feminine participle past
- desencadenados masculine participle past
- desencadenadas feminine participle past
- desencadenas indicative informal present
- desencadenás indicative informal present
- desencadena indicative present singular
- desencadenamos first-person indicative plural
- desencadenáis indicative plural present
- desencadenan indicative plural present
- desencadenaba first-person imperfect indicative
- desencadenabas imperfect indicative second-person
- desencadenábamos first-person imperfect indicative
- desencadenabais imperfect indicative plural
- desencadenaban imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce desencadenar?
- /desenkadeˈnaɾ/
- [d̪e.sẽŋ.ka.ð̞eˈnaɾ]
- [d̪esẽŋkað̞eˈnaɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to desencadenar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is desencadenar in Spanish?
desencadenar appears 1.5 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).