cativar

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti

Proto-Indo-European *kaptós

Proto-Italic *kaptos

Latin captus

Proto-Indo-European *-wós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder.

Latin -īvus

Latin captīvus

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 -ō

Latin captīvāre

Portuguese cativar

From Latin captīvāre (“to capture”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.t͡ʃiˈva(ʁ)/ [ka.t͡ʃiˈva(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.t͡ʃiˈva(ʁ)/ [ka.t͡ʃiˈva(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ka.t͡ʃiˈva(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ka.t͡ʃiˈva(ʁ)/ [ka.t͡ʃiˈva(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ka.t͡ʃiˈva(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.tiˈvaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.tiˈvaɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.tiˈbaɾ/ [kɐ.tiˈβaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.tiˈva.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: ca‧ti‧var

Verb

cativar (first-person singular present cativo, first-person singular preterite cativei, past participle cativado)

1. to captivate, to charm, to seduce, to attract
   • 2006, Eduardo Giffoni Flórido, As grandes personagens da história do cinema brasileiro: 1970-1979‎^[1], Fraiha, →ISBN, page 130:

     Nuno Leal Maia é um grande amigo dos amigos. Quem já conviveu ou convive com ele sabe da sua personalidade alegre e descontraída, sem estrelismo, que cativa as pessoas com o seu bom humor constante.

     Nuno Leal Maia is a great friend to his friends. Whoever has socialized or socializes with him knows of his joyful and relaxed personality, sans self-importance, that captivates people with his constant good mood.

2. to dominate
3. to capture

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cativar (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	cativar
Personal	cativar	cativares	cativar	cativarmos	cativardes	cativarem
Gerund
	cativando
Past participle
Masculine	cativado			cativados
Feminine	cativada			cativadas
Indicative
Present	cativo	cativas	cativa	cativamos	cativais	cativam
Imperfect	cativava	cativavas	cativava	cativávamos	cativáveis	cativavam
Preterite	cativei	cativaste	cativou	cativamos1, cativámos2	cativastes	cativaram
Pluperfect	cativara	cativaras	cativara	cativáramos	cativáreis	cativaram
Future	cativarei	cativarás	cativará	cativaremos	cativareis	cativarão
Conditional	cativaria	cativarias	cativaria	cativaríamos	cativaríeis	cativariam
Subjunctive
Present	cative	catives	cative	cativemos	cativeis	cativem
Imperfect	cativasse	cativasses	cativasse	cativássemos	cativásseis	cativassem
Future	cativar	cativares	cativar	cativarmos	cativardes	cativarem
Imperative
Affirmative		cativa	cative	cativemos	cativai	cativem
Negative (não)		não catives	não cative	não cativemos	não cativeis	não cativem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• cativo
• cativante
• cativador

Further reading

• “cativar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cativar”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2026
• “cativar”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “cativar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Verb

cativar (first-person singular present cativo, first-person singular preterite cativé, past participle cativado)

1. obsolete spelling of cautivar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cativar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			cativar
gerund			cativando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cativado		cativada
		plural		cativados		cativadas
		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	cativo	cativastú cativásvos	cativa	cativamos	cativáis	cativan
	imperfect	cativaba	cativabas	cativaba	cativábamos	cativabais	cativaban
	preterite	cativé	cativaste	cativó	cativamos	cativasteis	cativaron
	future	cativaré	cativarás	cativará	cativaremos	cativaréis	cativarán
	conditional	cativaría	cativarías	cativaría	cativaríamos	cativaríais	cativarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cative	cativestú cativésvos2	cative	cativemos	cativéis	cativen
	imperfect (ra)	cativara	cativaras	cativara	cativáramos	cativarais	cativaran
	imperfect (se)	cativase	cativases	cativase	cativásemos	cativaseis	cativasen
	future1	cativare	cativares	cativare	cativáremos	cativareis	cativaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		cativatú cativávos	cative	cativemos	cativad	cativen
	negative		no catives	no cative	no cativemos	no cativéis	no cativen

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

Further reading

• “cativar”, 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