fondear

Fondear is a Spanish verb with two primary senses that arise from nautical and financial usage. In general, it can mean to anchor a vessel or to provide the funds for a project or organization.

Nautical meaning: to drop anchor and secure a ship in a harbor, bay, or coast. It is used transitively and intransitively depending on the sentence, for example: “El barco fondeó frente a la costa.” The action involves letting the anchor reach the seabed and hold the vessel in place. Related nautical terms include anclar (to anchor) and fondeadero (anchorage).

Financial meaning: to fund, finance, or provide the capital for a project, venture, or institution. In this sense, fondear describes the act of supplying funds or arranging funding. It is common in business, finance, journalism, and public discourse, as in “La empresa fondeó el proyecto con una inversión inicial” or “Se fondeó la campaña mediante aportes privados.” The noun fondeo is often used to denote the act or result of funding, while fondos refers to the funds themselves.

Conjugation and usage: fondear belongs to regular -ar verbs. Indicative forms include fondeo, fondeas, fondea, fondeamos, fondeáis, fondean; past tenses include fondeé, fondeaste, fondeó, fondeamos, fondeasteis, fondearon. The meaning is usually inferred from context, with nautical use aligning to the anchor sense and financial use to the funding sense.

Etymology and related terms: the verb likely originates from nautical imagery of placing something on the seabed, extended by analogy to placing funds into a project. Related terms include anclar (to anchor), anchorage (fondeadero), financiar (to finance), and financiamiento (financing).