emocional

Emocional is an adjective in Spanish and Portuguese that describes anything related to emotions, mood, or affect. In both languages it is used to discuss emotional states and processes, such as salud emocional (emotional health), desarrollo emocional (emotional development), and inteligencia emocional (emotional intelligence).

Originating from Latin emotio, from emovere “to move,” the term entered the Romance languages and evolved into emotional forms in various languages. In Spanish and Portuguese, emocional is the corresponding adjective to describe things pertaining to emotion.

In psychology and everyday language, emocional covers a range of topics from emotional regulation and emotional awareness to empathy and affect. It is commonly found in phrases such as regulación emocional (emotional regulation) and inteligencia emocional (emotional intelligence), and it often appears alongside concepts related to cognition or reason.

Connotations of the term can be context-dependent. In neutral usage, it simply denotes relation to emotion. In some informal contexts, however, it may carry a pejorative nuance when describing someone as overly emotional or sentimental.

See also: emoción, afecto, regulación emocional, inteligencia emocional, salud emocional.