escombrar

Possibly from Vulgar Latin *excomborāre, from a proposed Proto-Celtic *comboros. This could be from the same root underlying Medieval Latin combrus (“barricade of felled trees”), reconstructed as Gaulish *komberū, from Proto-Celtic *kombereti (“to bring together”) (from *kom- +‎ *bereti (“to bear”)) and found in Medieval Latin incombrō, the source of Old French encombrer.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əs.kumˈbɾa]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əs.komˈbɾa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [es.komˈbɾaɾ]

escombrar (first-person singular present escombro, first-person singular preterite escombrí, past participle escombrat); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /o/

1. (ambitransitive) to sweep, sweep away, sweep out
2. (transitive, figurative) to sweep

• “escombrar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “escombrar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *excomborāre, of Celtic origin, from Proto-Celtic *comboros, derived from *kom- (“with”) + *bereti (“to bear”), similar to Dutch kommer (“concern, problems”).

• IPA^(key): /eskomˈbɾaɾ/ [es.kõmˈbɾaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: es‧com‧brar

escombrar (first-person singular present escombro, first-person singular preterite escombré, past participle escombrado)

1. to clear out, clean out

• “escombrar”, 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