bucear

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Spanish buzo

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor.

Latin -izō

Latin -izāre

Spanish -ear

Spanish bucear

From buzo + -ear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buθeˈaɾ/ [bu.θeˈaɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /buseˈaɾ/ [bu.seˈaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: bu‧ce‧ar

Verb

bucear (first-person singular present buceo, first-person singular preterite buceé, past participle buceado)

1. to dive, to swim under water

   Synonym: buzar

2. to snorkel
3. to work as a diver
4. (figuratively) to delve into
5. (slang, Venezuela) to ogle, to check out, to watch (e.g. an attractive person)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of bucear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			bucear
gerund			buceando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		buceado		buceada
		plural		buceados		buceadas
		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	buceo	buceastú buceásvos	bucea	buceamos	buceáis	bucean
	imperfect	buceaba	buceabas	buceaba	buceábamos	buceabais	buceaban
	preterite	buceé	buceaste	buceó	buceamos	buceasteis	bucearon
	future	bucearé	bucearás	buceará	bucearemos	bucearéis	bucearán
	conditional	bucearía	bucearías	bucearía	bucearíamos	bucearíais	bucearían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	bucee	buceestú buceésvos2	bucee	buceemos	buceéis	buceen
	imperfect (ra)	buceara	bucearas	buceara	buceáramos	bucearais	bucearan
	imperfect (se)	bucease	buceases	bucease	buceásemos	buceaseis	buceasen
	future1	buceare	buceares	buceare	buceáremos	buceareis	bucearen
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		buceatú buceávos	bucee	buceemos	bucead	buceen
	negative		no bucees	no bucee	no buceemos	no buceéis	no buceen

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

Related terms

• buceador
• buceo
• buzo

Further reading

• “bucear”, 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