zaherir

Spanish

Etymology

Somewhat disputed; according to the Royal Spanish Academy, from Old Spanish façerir, from *fazferir, from faz (“make!, do!”) +‎ ferir (“to hurt”). However, many etymologists have suggested that faz in fazferir could not have turned into za(z), even if it did convert into haz during the Spanish conversion of f to h and have suggested the word comes from Latin subferire (“to censor, reproach”) with za being a common corruption of the Latin sub- prefix, as seen in words such as zabullir (“to submerge”) (from Late Latin subbullīre (“to boil/submerge lighty”)) and zabucar (“to stir liquid”) (from Latin sub- (“below”) +‎ bucca (“mouth”)). Morphologically equivalent to haz (“make!, do!”) +‎ herir (“to hurt”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /θaeˈɾiɾ/ [θa.eˈɾiɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /saeˈɾiɾ/ [sa.eˈɾiɾ]
• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: za‧he‧rir

Verb

zaherir (first-person singular present zahiero, first-person singular preterite zaherí, past participle zaherido)

1. to criticize severely, harshly (to the point of feeling humiliated or mortified)
   • 1911, Quintilian, Ignacio Rodríguez, Pedro Sandier, Instituciones Oratorias, Vol. 1, 333:

     Guardémonos siempre de zaherir.

     Let's always guard ourselves from criticizing severely.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of zaherir (e-ie-i alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			zaherir
gerund			zahiriendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		zaherido		zaherida
		plural		zaheridos		zaheridas
		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	zahiero	zahierestú zaherísvos	zahiere	zaherimos	zaherís	zahieren
	imperfect	zahería	zaherías	zahería	zaheríamos	zaheríais	zaherían
	preterite	zaherí	zaheriste	zahirió	zaherimos	zaheristeis	zahirieron
	future	zaheriré	zaherirás	zaherirá	zaheriremos	zaheriréis	zaherirán
	conditional	zaheriría	zaherirías	zaheriría	zaheriríamos	zaheriríais	zaherirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	zahiera	zahierastú zahirásvos2	zahiera	zahiramos	zahiráis	zahieran
	imperfect (ra)	zahiriera	zahirieras	zahiriera	zahiriéramos	zahirierais	zahirieran
	imperfect (se)	zahiriese	zahirieses	zahiriese	zahiriésemos	zahirieseis	zahiriesen
	future1	zahiriere	zahirieres	zahiriere	zahiriéremos	zahiriereis	zahirieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		zahieretú zaherívos	zahiera	zahiramos	zaherid	zahieran
	negative		no zahieras	no zahiera	no zahiramos	no zahiráis	no zahieran

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of zaherir (e-ie-i alternation)

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 zaherir
	dative	zaherirme	zaherirte	zaherirle, zaherirse	zaherirnos	zaheriros	zaherirles, zaherirse
	accusative	zaherirme	zaherirte	zaherirlo, zaherirla, zaherirse	zaherirnos	zaheriros	zaherirlos, zaherirlas, zaherirse
with gerund zahiriendo
	dative	zahiriéndome	zahiriéndote	zahiriéndole, zahiriéndose	zahiriéndonos	zahiriéndoos	zahiriéndoles, zahiriéndose
	accusative	zahiriéndome	zahiriéndote	zahiriéndolo, zahiriéndola, zahiriéndose	zahiriéndonos	zahiriéndoos	zahiriéndolos, zahiriéndolas, zahiriéndose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative zahiere
	dative	zahiéreme	zahiérete	zahiérele	zahiérenos	not used	zahiéreles
	accusative	zahiéreme	zahiérete	zahiérelo, zahiérela	zahiérenos	not used	zahiérelos, zahiérelas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative zaherí
	dative	zaherime	zaherite	zaherile	zaherinos	not used	zaheriles
	accusative	zaherime	zaherite	zaherilo, zaherila	zaherinos	not used	zaherilos, zaherilas
with formal second-person singular imperative zahiera
	dative	zahiérame	not used	zahiérale, zahiérase	zahiéranos	not used	zahiérales
	accusative	zahiérame	not used	zahiéralo, zahiérala, zahiérase	zahiéranos	not used	zahiéralos, zahiéralas
with first-person plural imperative zahiramos
	dative	not used	zahirámoste	zahirámosle	zahirámonos	zahirámoos	zahirámosles
	accusative	not used	zahirámoste	zahirámoslo, zahirámosla	zahirámonos	zahirámoos	zahirámoslos, zahirámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative zaherid
	dative	zaheridme	not used	zaheridle	zaheridnos	zaheríos	zaheridles
	accusative	zaheridme	not used	zaheridlo, zaheridla	zaheridnos	zaheríos	zaheridlos, zaheridlas
with formal second-person plural imperative zahieran
	dative	zahiéranme	not used	zahiéranle	zahiérannos	not used	zahiéranles, zahiéranse
	accusative	zahiéranme	not used	zahiéranlo, zahiéranla	zahiérannos	not used	zahiéranlos, zahiéranlas, zahiéranse

Further reading

• “zaherir”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28