acicate

Portuguese

Etymology

From Arabic السِّقَاط‎ (as-siqāṭ).

Noun

acicate m (plural acicates)

1. spur (implement for prodding a horse)

   Synonym: espora

2. (figuratively) incentive, spur (anything that inspires or motivates)

   Synonym: incentivo

Derived terms

• acicatar

Further reading

• “acicate” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Andalusian Arabic [Term?]. Compare Portuguese acicate.

Pronunciation

• (Castilian) IPA^(key): /aθiˈkate/, [aθiˈkat̪e]
• (Latin America) IPA^(key): /asiˈkate/, [asiˈkat̪e]

Noun

acicate m (plural acicates)

1. spur (implement for prodding a horse)

   Synonym: espuela

2. (figuratively) incentive, spur (anything that inspires or motivates)

   Synonym: incentivo

   • 1997, Roberto Bolaño, “Henri Simon Leprince”, in Llamadas telefónicas [Last Evenings on Earth]:

     Su presencia, su fragilidad, su espantosa soberanía, a algunos les sirve de acicate o de recordatorio.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

Derived terms

• acicatear

Further reading

• “acicate” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.