Sfidat

Sfidat is a term primarily found in Maltese language usage. It is largely the past participle form of the verb sfidar, meaning to challenge. As an adjective, sfidat can describe someone or something that has been subjected to a challenge; as a noun, the related word sfida denotes a challenge itself, with sfidat conveying the sense of a challenged state or outcome. The word illustrates Maltese’s synthesis of Semitic grammar with Romance loanwords, and its etymology is commonly linked to the Italian sfidare, adapted into Maltese phonology and morphology.

In contemporary Maltese writing, sfidat appears in dictionaries and language guides as a standard inflected form. It is used in contexts involving competition, tests, or confrontations, and can appear in verbal phrases without altering the core sense of the root. Outside Maltese, sfidat has little to no independent recognition in major English-language reference works.

See also: sfida, sfidar.