acariciar

Catalan

Etymology

From a- +‎ carícia +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ə.kə.ɾi.siˈa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [a.ka.ɾi.siˈaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [a.ka.ɾi.siˈa]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Homophone: acaricià
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

acariciar (first-person singular present acaricio, first-person singular preterite acaricií, past participle acariciat)

1. to caress
2. to stroke, pet

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of acariciar (first conjugation)

infinitive			acariciar
gerund			acariciant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		acariciat		acariciada
		plural		acariciats		acariciades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	acaricio	acaricies	acaricia	acariciem	acaricieu	acaricien
	imperfect	acariciava	acariciaves	acariciava	acariciàvem	acariciàveu	acariciaven
	future	acariciaré	acariciaràs	acariciarà	acariciarem	acariciareu	acariciaran
	preterite	acaricií	acariciares	acaricià	acariciàrem	acariciàreu	acariciaren
	conditional	acariciaria	acariciaries	acariciaria	acariciaríem	acariciaríeu	acariciarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	acariciï	acariciïs	acariciï	acariciem	acaricieu	acariciïn
	imperfect	acariciés	acariciessis	acariciés	acariciéssim	acariciéssiu	acariciessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	acaricia	acariciï	acariciem	acaricieu	acariciïn
	negative (no)	—	no acariciïs	no acariciï	no acariciem	no acaricieu	no acariciïn

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Portuguese a-

Proto-Indo-European *keh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-rós

Proto-Italic *kāros

Latin cārus

Italian caro

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin -ia

Latin -itia

Italian -ezza

Italian carezzabor.

Portuguese carícia

Portuguese -ar

Portuguese acariciar

From a- + carícia + -ar.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.ka.ɾi.siˈa(ʁ)/ [a.ka.ɾi.siˈa(h)], (faster) /a.ka.ɾiˈsja(ʁ)/ [a.ka.ɾiˈsja(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.ka.ɾi.siˈa(ʁ)/ [a.ka.ɾi.siˈa(h)], (faster) /a.ka.ɾiˈsja(ʁ)/ [a.ka.ɾiˈsja(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /a.ka.ɾi.siˈa(ɾ)/, (faster) /a.ka.ɾiˈsja(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /a.ka.ɾi.siˈa(ʁ)/ [a.ka.ɾi.siˈa(χ)], (faster) /a.ka.ɾiˈsja(ʁ)/ [a.ka.ɾiˈsja(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /a.ka.ɾi.siˈa(ɻ)/, (faster) /a.ka.ɾiˈsja(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.kɐ.ɾiˈsjaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.kɐ.ɾiˈsjaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.kɐ.ɾiˈsja.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: a‧ca‧ri‧ci‧ar

Verb

acariciar (first-person singular present acaricio, first-person singular preterite acariciei, past participle acariciado)

1. (transitive) to stroke (to move one's hand or an object over the surface of)
2. (transitive) to pet (fondle (an animal))
3. (transitive) to pet (fondle (another person) amorously)
4. (transitive) to caress (touch or kiss lovingly)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of acariciar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	acariciar
Personal	acariciar	acariciares	acariciar	acariciarmos	acariciardes	acariciarem
Gerund
	acariciando
Past participle
Masculine	acariciado			acariciados
Feminine	acariciada			acariciadas
Indicative
Present	acaricio	acaricias	acaricia	acariciamos	acariciais	acariciam
Imperfect	acariciava	acariciavas	acariciava	acariciávamos	acariciáveis	acariciavam
Preterite	acariciei	acariciaste	acariciou	acariciamos1, acariciámos2	acariciastes	acariciaram
Pluperfect	acariciara	acariciaras	acariciara	acariciáramos	acariciáreis	acariciaram
Future	acariciarei	acariciarás	acariciará	acariciaremos	acariciareis	acariciarão
Conditional	acariciaria	acariciarias	acariciaria	acariciaríamos	acariciaríeis	acariciariam
Subjunctive
Present	acaricie	acaricies	acaricie	acariciemos	acaricieis	acariciem
Imperfect	acariciasse	acariciasses	acariciasse	acariciássemos	acariciásseis	acariciassem
Future	acariciar	acariciares	acariciar	acariciarmos	acariciardes	acariciarem
Imperative
Affirmative		acaricia	acaricie	acariciemos	acariciai	acariciem
Negative (não)		não acaricies	não acaricie	não acariciemos	não acaricieis	não acariciem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Further reading

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

Spanish

Alternative forms

• cariciar (rare or archaic)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Proto-Italic *ad-

Latin ad-

Spanish a-

Proto-Indo-European *keh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-rós

Proto-Italic *kāros

Latin cārus

Italian caro

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin -ia

Latin -itia

Italian -ezza

Italian carezzabor.

Spanish caricia

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -āre

Old Spanish -ar

Spanish -ar

Spanish acariciar

From a- + caricia + -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /akaɾiˈθjaɾ/ [a.ka.ɾiˈθjaɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /akaɾiˈsjaɾ/ [a.ka.ɾiˈsjaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: a‧ca‧ri‧ciar

Verb

acariciar (first-person singular present acaricio, first-person singular preterite acaricié, past participle acariciado)

1. to caress

   Synonyms: hacer cariño, regalonear

2. to fondle
3. to stroke
4. to pet

Conjugation

    Conjugation of acariciar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			acariciar
gerund			acariciando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		acariciado		acariciada
		plural		acariciados		acariciadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	acaricio	acariciastú acariciásvos	acaricia	acariciamos	acariciáis	acarician
	imperfect	acariciaba	acariciabas	acariciaba	acariciábamos	acariciabais	acariciaban
	preterite	acaricié	acariciaste	acarició	acariciamos	acariciasteis	acariciaron
	future	acariciaré	acariciarás	acariciará	acariciaremos	acariciaréis	acariciarán
	conditional	acariciaría	acariciarías	acariciaría	acariciaríamos	acariciaríais	acariciarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	acaricie	acariciestú acariciésvos2	acaricie	acariciemos	acariciéis	acaricien
	imperfect (ra)	acariciara	acariciaras	acariciara	acariciáramos	acariciarais	acariciaran
	imperfect (se)	acariciase	acariciases	acariciase	acariciásemos	acariciaseis	acariciasen
	future1	acariciare	acariciares	acariciare	acariciáremos	acariciareis	acariciaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		acariciatú acariciávos	acaricie	acariciemos	acariciad	acaricien
	negative		no acaricies	no acaricie	no acariciemos	no acariciéis	no acaricien

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of acariciar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive acariciar	dative	acariciarme	acariciarte	acariciarle, acariciarse	acariciarnos	acariciaros	acariciarles, acariciarse
	accusative	acariciarme	acariciarte	acariciarlo, acariciarla, acariciarse	acariciarnos	acariciaros	acariciarlos, acariciarlas, acariciarse
with gerund acariciando	dative	acariciándome	acariciándote	acariciándole, acariciándose	acariciándonos	acariciándoos	acariciándoles, acariciándose
	accusative	acariciándome	acariciándote	acariciándolo, acariciándola, acariciándose	acariciándonos	acariciándoos	acariciándolos, acariciándolas, acariciándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative acaricia	dative	acaríciame	acaríciate	acaríciale	acarícianos	not used	acaríciales
	accusative	acaríciame	acaríciate	acarícialo, acaríciala	acarícianos	not used	acarícialos, acarícialas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative acariciá	dative	acariciame	acariciate	acariciale	acaricianos	not used	acariciales
	accusative	acariciame	acariciate	acaricialo, acariciala	acaricianos	not used	acaricialos, acaricialas
with formal second-person singular imperative acaricie	dative	acarícieme	not used	acaríciele, acaríciese	acarícienos	not used	acarícieles
	accusative	acarícieme	not used	acarícielo, acaríciela, acaríciese	acarícienos	not used	acarícielos, acarícielas
with first-person plural imperative acariciemos	dative	not used	acariciémoste	acariciémosle	acariciémonos	acariciémoos	acariciémosles
	accusative	not used	acariciémoste	acariciémoslo, acariciémosla	acariciémonos	acariciémoos	acariciémoslos, acariciémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative acariciad	dative	acariciadme	not used	acariciadle	acariciadnos	acariciaos	acariciadles
	accusative	acariciadme	not used	acariciadlo, acariciadla	acariciadnos	acariciaos	acariciadlos, acariciadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative acaricien	dative	acarícienme	not used	acarícienle	acaríciennos	not used	acarícienles, acaríciense
	accusative	acarícienme	not used	acarícienlo, acarícienla	acaríciennos	not used	acarícienlos, acarícienlas, acaríciense

Derived terms

• acariciable
• acariciador

Further reading

• “acariciar”, 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