empenhar
Portuguese, verb/ẽ.pẽˈɲa(ʁ)/
empenhar is spelled E-M-P-E-N-H-A-R (8 letters) and appears 1.5 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 26,665th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Empenhar is a Portuguese verb meaning “to pawn” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “dar em penhor”.
What does empenhar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to pawn
- 2
to pledge
empenhar a palavra
- 3
to force, to coerce
- 4
to commit
- 5
to get into debt
- 6
to dedicate oneself; to commit oneself
empenhar-se em fazer alguma coisa
- 7
to strive to; to make an effort in
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
verb: 1. dar em penhor 2. tornar obrigado, ou devedor de reconhecimento 3. invocar, comprometer 4. expor
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of empenhar
- empenho first-person present singular
- empenhei first-person preterite singular
- empenhado participle past
- empenhares infinitive second-person singular
- empenharmos first-person infinitive plural
- empenhardes infinitive plural second-person
- empenharem infinitive plural third-person
- empenhando gerund
- empenhados masculine participle past
- empenhada feminine participle past
- empenhadas feminine participle past
- empenhas indicative present second-person
- empenha indicative present singular
- empenhamos first-person indicative plural
- empenhais indicative plural present
- empenham indicative plural present
- empenhava first-person imperfect indicative
- empenhavas imperfect indicative second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce empenhar?
- Brazil /ẽ.pẽˈɲa(ʁ)/
- Brazil [ẽ.pẽˈj̃a(h)]
- Brazil /ĩ.pẽˈɲa(ʁ)/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to empenhar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is empenhar in Portuguese?
empenhar appears 1.5 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).