puesta

Puesta is a feminine noun in Spanish that derives from the verb poner. It denotes the act of putting, placing, or setting something, as well as the result of that action. The term also appears in fixed expressions that name stages, installations, or natural events. Etymologically, puesta comes from the verb poner and shares a semantic cluster with puesto, the related masculine form used as an adjective or participle.

Puesta has several related senses. One is the act of placing or arranging objects, for example la puesta de los muebles en una habitación or la puesta en orden de documentos. Another sense concerns the installation or commissioning of a device, system, or service, as in la puesta en marcha de una máquina or la puesta a punto de un servicio público. A third is the performing arts sense, where puesta en escena refers to the staging or presentation of a work. A fourth common sense is the daily astronomical or celestial event, notably la puesta de sol, meaning the sunset. A fifth sense appears in biology and agriculture, where la puesta refers to egg-laying, as in la puesta de huevos por una gallina.

Usage notes: puesto and puesta share their etymology but function differently in grammar; puesta is always feminine and occurs in many compound phrases, such as puesta en marcha or puesta en escena. Context determines whether the meaning is physical placement, a staged presentation, a natural event, or reproductive activity.