carrear

Carrear is a verb in Spanish and Portuguese with senses that cover both physical transport and figurative incurrence or bearing. In its primary meaning, it denotes moving or transporting objects, often by cart, wagon, vehicle, or by hand, as in the common expression carrear una carga.

In a figurative sense, carrear means to incur, bear, or carry a cost, loss, liability, or consequence. Examples include carrear deudas (to incur debts), carrear pérdidas (to incur losses), or carrear una responsabilidad (to bear a responsibility). This figurative use is common in legal, financial, and formal contexts.

Usage notes: For everyday physical loading, many speakers prefer cargar or transportar, while carrear tends to appear in more formal, technical, or literary registers, and is frequently found in financial or legal idioms. In Portuguese, the senses are similar, with carrear used for both transporting and incurring costs or liabilities.

Conjugation and form: Carrear is a regular -ar verb, so it follows standard conjugation patterns for -ar verbs in Spanish and Portuguese.

Etymology: The word is of Romance origin and is related to concepts around carts, wagons, and carrying loads. It shares roots with words in both Spanish and Portuguese connected to transportation and load-bearing.

Related terms: Cargar, transportar, incorrer, arcar (Portuguese: arcar com dívidas), bear in English.