empezar

en- + pieza, possibly through a Vulgar Latin root *impettiāre.

empezar (first-person singular indicative present empiezo, past participle empezáu)

1. to begin, start

   Synonyms: entamar, apenzar, empecipiar, emprimar, aniciar, comenzar

• “empezar”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN
• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “empezar”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN

• empeçar (reintegrationist)

empezar (first-person singular present empezo, first-person singular preterite empecei, past participle empezado)

1. to begin, to start

   Synonym: comezar

• empezo

• “empezar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

From en- +‎ pieza +‎ -ar, possibly through a Vulgar Latin root impertiāre.

The underlying meanings is to "start" to consume something by breaking off a "piece" or by breaking it open.

• IPA^(key): /empeˈθaɾ/ [ẽm.peˈθaɾ] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /empeˈsaɾ/ [ẽm.peˈsaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: em‧pe‧zar

empezar (first-person singular present empiezo, first-person singular preterite empecé, past participle empezado)

1. to start, begin, to get started

   Synonyms: comenzar, iniciar

   • 2015 August 11, Hope King, “Verizon quiere hacer que el internet sea 1.000 veces más rápido”, in CNN en Español‎^[1]:

     Una película de dos horas en alta definición tardaría 8 segundos en descargarse, 100 estudiantes podrían descargar un libro de texto en dos segundos simultáneamente, y subir 1.000 fotos también tomaría alrededor de dos segundos, dice Verizon. […] Recientemente, Comcast acaba de empezar a ofrecer el Internet más rápido del país a 2 gigabits por segundo el mes pasado.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (intransitive) to start [with a (+ infinitive) ‘to do something’]

   Hace poco que empezó a comer vegetales.

   He recently started eating vegetables.

3. (intransitive) to start [with por (+ infinitive) ‘by doing something’]

   Sugiero que empecemos por reconocer que necesitamos más ayuda.

   I suggest that we start by acknowledging that we need more help.

4. (intransitive) to start, to begin [with con ‘with’]

   En español, pocas palabras empiezan por la letra ñ.

   In Spanish, few words begin with the letter ñ.

5. (intransitive) to lead, to open [with con ‘with’]
6. (reflexive) to be started

• → Tagalog: umpisa

• “empezar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “empezar”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Panhispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, 2023, →ISBN