mellar

Spanish

Etymology

Uncertain; possibly of pre-Roman origin,^[1] or perhaps from Vulgar Latin *gemellō, *gemellāre, from Latin gemellus (cf. mellizo).^[2] See also the related mella.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /meˈʝaɾ/ [meˈʝaɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Spain and Latin America)
IPA^(key): /meˈʎaɾ/ [meˈʎaɾ] (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines)
IPA^(key): /meˈʃaɾ/ [meˈʃaɾ] (Buenos Aires and environs)
IPA^(key): /meˈʒaɾ/ [meˈʒaɾ] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

Rhymes: -aɾ
Syllabification: me‧llar

Verb

mellar (first-person singular present mello, first-person singular preterite mellé, past participle mellado)

(transitive) to nick, to dent
Synonym: abollar
(transitive) to diminish, to lessen, to reduce

Conjugation

Conjugation of mellar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

		singular			plural
infinitive			mellar
gerund			mellando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		mellado		mellada
		plural		mellados		melladas
		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	mello	mellas^{^tú} mellás^{^vos}	mella	mellamos	melláis	mellan
	imperfect	mellaba	mellabas	mellaba	mellábamos	mellabais	mellaban
	preterite	mellé	mellaste	melló	mellamos	mellasteis	mellaron
	future	mellaré	mellarás	mellará	mellaremos	mellaréis	mellarán
	conditional	mellaría	mellarías	mellaría	mellaríamos	mellaríais	mellarían

subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	melle	melles^{^tú} mellés^{^vos²}	melle	mellemos	melléis	mellen
	imperfect (ra)	mellara	mellaras	mellara	melláramos	mellarais	mellaran
	imperfect (se)	mellase	mellases	mellase	mellásemos	mellaseis	mellasen
	future¹	mellare	mellares	mellare	melláremos	mellareis	mellaren

imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		mella^{^tú} mellá^{^vos}	melle	mellemos	mellad	mellen
	negative		no melles	no melle	no mellemos	no melléis	no mellen

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

Selected combined forms of mellar

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 mellar	dative	mellarme	mellarte	mellarle, mellarse	mellarnos	mellaros	mellarles, mellarse
with infinitive mellar	accusative	mellarme	mellarte	mellarlo, mellarla, mellarse	mellarnos	mellaros	mellarlos, mellarlas, mellarse

with gerund mellando	dative	mellándome	mellándote	mellándole, mellándose	mellándonos	mellándoos	mellándoles, mellándose
with gerund mellando	accusative	mellándome	mellándote	mellándolo, mellándola, mellándose	mellándonos	mellándoos	mellándolos, mellándolas, mellándose

with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative mella	dative	méllame	méllate	méllale	méllanos	not used	méllales
	accusative	méllame	méllate	méllalo, méllala	méllanos	not used	méllalos, méllalas

with informal second-person singular voseo imperative mellá	dative	mellame	mellate	mellale	mellanos	not used	mellales
	accusative	mellame	mellate	mellalo, mellala	mellanos	not used	mellalos, mellalas

with formal second-person singular imperative melle	dative	mélleme	not used	méllele, méllese	méllenos	not used	mélleles
with formal second-person singular imperative melle	accusative	mélleme	not used	méllelo, méllela, méllese	méllenos	not used	méllelos, méllelas

with first-person plural imperative mellemos	dative	not used	mellémoste	mellémosle	mellémonos	mellémoos	mellémosles
with first-person plural imperative mellemos	accusative	not used	mellémoste	mellémoslo, mellémosla	mellémonos	mellémoos	mellémoslos, mellémoslas

with informal second-person plural imperative mellad	dative	melladme	not used	melladle	melladnos	mellaos	melladles
with informal second-person plural imperative mellad	accusative	melladme	not used	melladlo, melladla	melladnos	mellaos	melladlos, melladlas

with formal second-person plural imperative mellen	dative	méllenme	not used	méllenle	méllennos	not used	méllenles, méllense
with formal second-person plural imperative mellen	accusative	méllenme	not used	méllenlo, méllenla	méllennos	not used	méllenlos, méllenlas, méllense

Related terms

mella

References

^ Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1983–1991), “mellar”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[1] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos
^ “mellar”, 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