desentrañar

Desentrañar is a Spanish verb that means to disentangle, to unravel something physically or figuratively, and to figure out or solve a problem or mystery. It is transitive and commonly used with nouns such as un nudo, un enigma, un misterio, or a complex text.

It covers both literal disentangling (desentrañar un nudo) and figurative meanings (desentrañar una causa, un misterio, un argumento). In journalism and analysis, it conveys uncovering underlying factors or meanings. It also appears in literary contexts to describe resolving ambiguity or hidden connections.

Origin: from prefix des- with a root meaning to entangle; historically linked to verbs such as entramar and desenredar, reflecting the idea of undoing entanglement to reach clarity.

Conjugation: regular -ar verb. Present: desentraño, desentrañas, desentraña, desentrañamos, desentrañan. Preterite: desentrané, desentrañaste, desentrañó, desentrañamos, desentrañaron. Past participle: desentrañado; gerund: desentrañando.

Synonyms: esclarecer, dilucidar, resolver, desvelar; related: desenredar. Antonyms: enredar, complicar.

Examples: Desentrañar el significado de un poema; desentrañar un complot.