Ajusto

Ajusto is a term that appears infrequently in modern Spanish and is usually encountered as archaic or regional. In contemporary usage, its senses align with close-fitting or precise, but these meanings are more commonly expressed with other forms such as ajustado or exacto. When ajusto does appear, it is typically described as a literary or dialectal adjective rather than standard everyday vocabulary.

Etymology and form are straightforward: ajusto is the masculine singular form derived from the verb ajustar (to adjust, to fit). Because it originates from a verb, the suffix -o is the conventional masculine ending for adjectives, although it is not common in current standard Spanish.

Usage and meaning. The core senses attributed to ajusto in dictionaries and linguistic references are close-fitting, tight or precise. In practice, these senses have largely migrated to more widely used terms like ajustado (tight-fitting) or exacto/preciso (precise). As a result, ajusto is most often found in historical texts, regional speech, or discussions of lexical variation rather than in everyday language.

Variations and related forms include ajustar (the verb), ajuste (the noun meaning adjustment or fit), and ajustado (the common participial adjective). Ajusto can be cited in studies of morphosyntactic variation or in discussions of how verb-derived adjectives appear in different Spanish dialects.

See also: ajustar, ajuste, ajustado.