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to+reduce+costs+by+five+million

  • 1 reducir

    v.
    1 to reduce.
    nos han reducido el sueldo our salary has been cut
    reducir algo a algo to reduce something to something
    reducir algo al absurdo to make a nonsense of something
    Ella redujo la velocidad She reduced the speed.
    2 to suppress, to subdue (someter) (país, ciudad).
    3 to convert (Mat) (convertir).
    4 to set (medicine).
    5 to shorten, to shrink.
    Ellos redujeron las tablas They shortened the boards.
    6 to cut down, to depress, to de-escalate, to deescalate.
    Ellos redujeron los gastos They cut down expenses.
    7 to conquer, to subdue, to subjugate.
    Ellos redujeron a los nativos They conquered the natives.
    8 to hydrogenate.
    * * *
    Conjugation model [ CONDUCIR], like link=conducir conducir
    1 (gen) to reduce
    2 (disminuir) to reduce, cut, cut down on
    3 (vencer) to subdue
    4 MEDICINA to set
    5 (una salsa, etc) to reduce, boil down
    1 AUTOMÓVIL to change down, change to a lower gear
    1 (gen) to be reduced; (decrecer) to decrease
    2 (resultar) to come down (a, to)
    * * *
    verb
    1) to reduce, cut
    * * *
    1. VT
    1) (=disminuir)
    a) [en cantidad] [+ gastos, inflación, precio] to reduce, bring down, cut; [+ tensión, ansiedad] to reduce; [+ riesgo] to reduce, lessen

    el autobús redujo su velocidad — the bus reduced speed, the bus slowed down

    el banco redujo su beneficio un 12% — the bank saw its profits fall by 12%

    reducir algo en algo — to reduce sth by sth, cut sth by sth

    tenemos que reducir la producción en un 20% — we have to reduce o cut production by 20%

    reducir a la mínima expresiónto reduce to the bare minimum

    reducir algo al mínimoto reduce o cut sth to the minimum

    reducir algo a la mitadto cut sth by half

    b) [en tiempo] [+ jornada laboral] to reduce, shorten; [+ sentencia] to reduce

    han reducido la mili a nueve mesesthey have reduced o cut military service to nine months

    c) [en tamaño] [+ copia] to reduce; [+ discurso, artículo] to cut down, shorten
    2)

    reducir algo a algo —

    a) (=limitar) to limit sth to sth; (=simplificar) to reduce sth to sth
    b) (=convertir) [+ cantidad, medida] to convert sth into sth; [+ fracción, ecuación] to reduce sth into sth
    3) (=someter) [+ ladrón, fugitivo, loco] to overpower; [+ alborotadores] to subdue; [+ fortaleza] to subdue, reduce frm

    reducir a algn a la obedienciato bring sb to heel

    reducir a algn al silencio[por la fuerza, por miedo] to silence sb; [por vergüenza, humillación] to reduce sb to silence

    4) (Med) [+ hueso, hernia] to set, reduce frm
    5) (Quím) to reduce
    6) LAm [en el mercado negro] to get rid of *
    2.
    VI (Aut) to change down
    3.
    See:
    * * *
    1.
    verbo transitivo
    1)
    a) <gastos/costos> to cut, reduce; <velocidad/producción/consumo> to reduce

    reducir al mínimo los riesgosto minimize o to reduce the risks to a minimum

    le redujeron la penathey shortened o reduced his sentence

    reducir algo a su mínima expresión — (Mat) to reduce something to its simplest form

    b) <fotocopia/fotografía> to reduce
    2)

    reducir algo A algo: reducir los gramos a milígramos to convert the grams to milligrams; quedaron reducidos a cenizas they were reduced to ashes; mis ilusiones quedaron reducidas a la nada — my dreams came to nothing

    b) (Quím) to reduce
    c) (AmS) < objeto robado> to receive, fence (colloq)
    3) ( dominar) <enemigo/rebeldes> to subdue; < ladrón> to overpower
    4) <fractura/hernia> to set, reduce (tech)
    2.
    1) (Coc) to reduce, boil down
    2) (Auto) to shift into a lower gear
    3.
    reducirse v pron

    reducirse A algo: todo se reduce a tener tacto it all comes down to being tactful; todo se redujo a un paseo por el río — in the end it was just a walk by the river

    * * *
    = abridge, compress, contract, curtail, erode, gut, narrow, prune, reduce, shorten, stifle, lower, cut back (on), cut, cut down (on), deplete, lessen, pare down, keep down + Nombre, retrench, narrow down, whittle (away/down/at), slim down, slow down, slow up, taper, wind + Nombre + down, cut + Nombre + short, scale back, downgrade [down-grade], shave off, shrink, mark + Nombre + down.
    Ex. Inevitably any abridgement poses the dilemma how to abridge, that is, what to leave out and what to include.
    Ex. A library of a million volumes could be compressed into one end of a desk.
    Ex. In the face of emergencies, breadth of vision tends to contract, narrowing the range of responses.
    Ex. The imposition of fee-based services may radically curtail the breadth of resources available to library users where historically information has been offered freely.
    Ex. These arrangements should also erode price differentials between Europe and the US, and permit each country to support its own online services.
    Ex. Prices of European produced scientific, technical and medical serials continue to gut US research libraries.
    Ex. Hierarchical relationships must be indicated in order that the users may broaden or narrow the search parameters.
    Ex. More balanced schedules were achieved by pruning the 31000 subjects enumerated in the fourteenth edition to 4700.
    Ex. The disadvantage of inversion of words is that inversion or indirect word order reduces predictability of form of headings.
    Ex. If there are holds on the title, the loan period is shortened to 14 days.
    Ex. Excessive emphasis on the need to exact payment will stifle the flow of information.
    Ex. When a forme was in place on the press stone, paper was lowered on to it by means of a tympan and frisket.
    Ex. But higher education, which expanded between 1959 and 1979 from 164,000 to 519,600 students in full-time higher education, has also been cutting back on purchases.
    Ex. 'The word's out: all departments have to cut their staffs by 10%' -- Her voice was weak and laden with woe.
    Ex. Abstracts cut down considerably on legwork in hunting for information.
    Ex. This intermediate grade would equate with the senior library assistant, a category much depleted in UK academic librarianship.
    Ex. Two possible solutions are possible: (1) to lessen the frequency of production, or (2) to reduce the amount of detail in the entries.
    Ex. He said again that we should pare it down to something much more in line with his figures.
    Ex. Activities such as gardening or cookery are dealt with in many books in ways which go far beyond the simple keeping down of weeds or just filling empty stomachs.
    Ex. In the face of overpublishing and growing scepticism, this once booming area is now retrenching and broadening its coverage = En vista del exceso de publicaciones y del creciente escepticismo, este área que una vez estuvo en auge ahora ha venido a menos.
    Ex. By specifying the fields to be searched, the user can narrow down the search in a very convenient way.
    Ex. However, such idealism is often whittled away over time by bureaucratic problems & organizational demands.
    Ex. The abundance of book types and titles makes display and merchandising increasingly difficult; some booksellers are dealing with this by slimming down or cutting out certain categories.
    Ex. However, the flight from DC appears to have slowed down more quickly than was anticipated, and we no longer read of large numbers of libraries making the change.
    Ex. Since cataloging is the most time consuming part of digitization, it has slowed up the placement of files.
    Ex. The tube in the two types tapers almost unnoticeably from base to tip.
    Ex. Not the least of the ironies of this venture is that going ahead with it is as full of hazard as winding it down abruptly.
    Ex. May I just cut you short, because I've discussed this problem with Peter Jacobs just this week.
    Ex. He first spotted trouble when she started being short with users and so he solved the problem by scaling back her workload.
    Ex. The opposite of the 'halo effect' -- downgrading someone you dislike but whose work is good -- is also an error.
    Ex. You can shave off as much as 50% or even more from your current rate for home insurance in Arizona.
    Ex. The 'false hit' problem still arises, but becomes less likely as the 'neighborhood' of the two words shrinks.
    Ex. They have just marked down all summer handbags to 50 percent off.
    ----
    * que reduce el estrés = stress-reducing.
    * reducir a cero = reduce to + nil.
    * reducir a la mitad = halve, cut in + half, halve, reduce by + half.
    * reducir a la nada = reduce to + nil.
    * reducir al mínimo = minimise [minimize, -USA], reduce to + a minimum, cut down to + a minimum, keep to + a (bare) minimum, cut to + the bone.
    * reducir a lo mínimo = cut to + the bone.
    * reducir a miniatura = miniaturise [miniaturize, -USA].
    * reducir costes = reduce + costs.
    * reducir de plantilla = downsize.
    * reducir de tamaño = reduce in + size.
    * reducir el esfuerzo = reduce + effort.
    * reducir el impacto = minimise + impact.
    * reducir el papeleo = slash + red tape.
    * reducir el precio = reduce + price, cut + price.
    * reducir el presupuesto = cut + monies from + budget.
    * reducir el riesgo = reduce + risk.
    * reducir el tamaño = reduce + size.
    * reducir el tiempo = cut down + time.
    * reducir el valor = reduce + value.
    * reducir gastos = cut + costs, cut + spending, make + economies, make + cuts, reduce + costs.
    * reducir gradualmente = scale down.
    * reducir la burocracia = slash + red tape.
    * reducir la posibilidad = minimise + possibility.
    * reducir la probabilidad = reduce + chances.
    * reducir las diferencias = bridge + the gap, bridge + the divide, bridge + the chasm, bridge + the gulf, close + the gap.
    * reducir las diferencias entre... y = narrow + the gap between... and.
    * reducir las distancias = reduce + distance, close + the gap.
    * reducir las posibilidades de = narrow + the vision of.
    * reducir los beneficios = cut + profit.
    * reducir los impuestos = cut + taxes.
    * reducir pérdidas = cut down + losses, cut + losses.
    * reducir progresivamente = phase out.
    * reducirse a = boil down to, come down to.
    * reducirse poco a poco = dribble off.
    * reducir una limitación = push + limits (further and further back).
    * reducir una palabra a su raíz = stem.
    * reducir un obstáculo = lower + barrier.
    * * *
    1.
    verbo transitivo
    1)
    a) <gastos/costos> to cut, reduce; <velocidad/producción/consumo> to reduce

    reducir al mínimo los riesgosto minimize o to reduce the risks to a minimum

    le redujeron la penathey shortened o reduced his sentence

    reducir algo a su mínima expresión — (Mat) to reduce something to its simplest form

    b) <fotocopia/fotografía> to reduce
    2)

    reducir algo A algo: reducir los gramos a milígramos to convert the grams to milligrams; quedaron reducidos a cenizas they were reduced to ashes; mis ilusiones quedaron reducidas a la nada — my dreams came to nothing

    b) (Quím) to reduce
    c) (AmS) < objeto robado> to receive, fence (colloq)
    3) ( dominar) <enemigo/rebeldes> to subdue; < ladrón> to overpower
    4) <fractura/hernia> to set, reduce (tech)
    2.
    1) (Coc) to reduce, boil down
    2) (Auto) to shift into a lower gear
    3.
    reducirse v pron

    reducirse A algo: todo se reduce a tener tacto it all comes down to being tactful; todo se redujo a un paseo por el río — in the end it was just a walk by the river

    * * *
    = abridge, compress, contract, curtail, erode, gut, narrow, prune, reduce, shorten, stifle, lower, cut back (on), cut, cut down (on), deplete, lessen, pare down, keep down + Nombre, retrench, narrow down, whittle (away/down/at), slim down, slow down, slow up, taper, wind + Nombre + down, cut + Nombre + short, scale back, downgrade [down-grade], shave off, shrink, mark + Nombre + down.

    Ex: Inevitably any abridgement poses the dilemma how to abridge, that is, what to leave out and what to include.

    Ex: A library of a million volumes could be compressed into one end of a desk.
    Ex: In the face of emergencies, breadth of vision tends to contract, narrowing the range of responses.
    Ex: The imposition of fee-based services may radically curtail the breadth of resources available to library users where historically information has been offered freely.
    Ex: These arrangements should also erode price differentials between Europe and the US, and permit each country to support its own online services.
    Ex: Prices of European produced scientific, technical and medical serials continue to gut US research libraries.
    Ex: Hierarchical relationships must be indicated in order that the users may broaden or narrow the search parameters.
    Ex: More balanced schedules were achieved by pruning the 31000 subjects enumerated in the fourteenth edition to 4700.
    Ex: The disadvantage of inversion of words is that inversion or indirect word order reduces predictability of form of headings.
    Ex: If there are holds on the title, the loan period is shortened to 14 days.
    Ex: Excessive emphasis on the need to exact payment will stifle the flow of information.
    Ex: When a forme was in place on the press stone, paper was lowered on to it by means of a tympan and frisket.
    Ex: But higher education, which expanded between 1959 and 1979 from 164,000 to 519,600 students in full-time higher education, has also been cutting back on purchases.
    Ex: 'The word's out: all departments have to cut their staffs by 10%' -- Her voice was weak and laden with woe.
    Ex: Abstracts cut down considerably on legwork in hunting for information.
    Ex: This intermediate grade would equate with the senior library assistant, a category much depleted in UK academic librarianship.
    Ex: Two possible solutions are possible: (1) to lessen the frequency of production, or (2) to reduce the amount of detail in the entries.
    Ex: He said again that we should pare it down to something much more in line with his figures.
    Ex: Activities such as gardening or cookery are dealt with in many books in ways which go far beyond the simple keeping down of weeds or just filling empty stomachs.
    Ex: In the face of overpublishing and growing scepticism, this once booming area is now retrenching and broadening its coverage = En vista del exceso de publicaciones y del creciente escepticismo, este área que una vez estuvo en auge ahora ha venido a menos.
    Ex: By specifying the fields to be searched, the user can narrow down the search in a very convenient way.
    Ex: However, such idealism is often whittled away over time by bureaucratic problems & organizational demands.
    Ex: The abundance of book types and titles makes display and merchandising increasingly difficult; some booksellers are dealing with this by slimming down or cutting out certain categories.
    Ex: However, the flight from DC appears to have slowed down more quickly than was anticipated, and we no longer read of large numbers of libraries making the change.
    Ex: Since cataloging is the most time consuming part of digitization, it has slowed up the placement of files.
    Ex: The tube in the two types tapers almost unnoticeably from base to tip.
    Ex: Not the least of the ironies of this venture is that going ahead with it is as full of hazard as winding it down abruptly.
    Ex: May I just cut you short, because I've discussed this problem with Peter Jacobs just this week.
    Ex: He first spotted trouble when she started being short with users and so he solved the problem by scaling back her workload.
    Ex: The opposite of the 'halo effect' -- downgrading someone you dislike but whose work is good -- is also an error.
    Ex: You can shave off as much as 50% or even more from your current rate for home insurance in Arizona.
    Ex: The 'false hit' problem still arises, but becomes less likely as the 'neighborhood' of the two words shrinks.
    Ex: They have just marked down all summer handbags to 50 percent off.
    * que reduce el estrés = stress-reducing.
    * reducir a cero = reduce to + nil.
    * reducir a la mitad = halve, cut in + half, halve, reduce by + half.
    * reducir a la nada = reduce to + nil.
    * reducir al mínimo = minimise [minimize, -USA], reduce to + a minimum, cut down to + a minimum, keep to + a (bare) minimum, cut to + the bone.
    * reducir a lo mínimo = cut to + the bone.
    * reducir a miniatura = miniaturise [miniaturize, -USA].
    * reducir costes = reduce + costs.
    * reducir de plantilla = downsize.
    * reducir de tamaño = reduce in + size.
    * reducir el esfuerzo = reduce + effort.
    * reducir el impacto = minimise + impact.
    * reducir el papeleo = slash + red tape.
    * reducir el precio = reduce + price, cut + price.
    * reducir el presupuesto = cut + monies from + budget.
    * reducir el riesgo = reduce + risk.
    * reducir el tamaño = reduce + size.
    * reducir el tiempo = cut down + time.
    * reducir el valor = reduce + value.
    * reducir gastos = cut + costs, cut + spending, make + economies, make + cuts, reduce + costs.
    * reducir gradualmente = scale down.
    * reducir la burocracia = slash + red tape.
    * reducir la posibilidad = minimise + possibility.
    * reducir la probabilidad = reduce + chances.
    * reducir las diferencias = bridge + the gap, bridge + the divide, bridge + the chasm, bridge + the gulf, close + the gap.
    * reducir las diferencias entre... y = narrow + the gap between... and.
    * reducir las distancias = reduce + distance, close + the gap.
    * reducir las posibilidades de = narrow + the vision of.
    * reducir los beneficios = cut + profit.
    * reducir los impuestos = cut + taxes.
    * reducir pérdidas = cut down + losses, cut + losses.
    * reducir progresivamente = phase out.
    * reducirse a = boil down to, come down to.
    * reducirse poco a poco = dribble off.
    * reducir una limitación = push + limits (further and further back).
    * reducir una palabra a su raíz = stem.
    * reducir un obstáculo = lower + barrier.

    * * *
    reducir [I6 ]
    vt
    A
    1 ‹gastos/costos› to cut, cut down on, reduce; ‹velocidad› to reduce; ‹producción/consumo› to reduce
    hemos reducido el número de casos we have brought down o reduced the number of cases
    redujeron el número de plazas they cut the number of places o the number of places was reduced
    han prometido reducir los impuestos they have promised to cut o reduce taxes
    con esto se intenta reducir al mínimo el riesgo de infección this is intended to minimize o to reduce to a minimum the risk of infection
    ejercicios para reducir (la) cintura exercises to reduce your waistline
    reducir algo A algo to reduce sth TO sth
    han reducido el texto a 50 páginas they have shortened o reduced the text to fifty pages
    le han reducido la pena a dos años they have commuted o shortened o reduced his sentence to two years
    la población quedó reducida a la mitad the population was reduced to half of its former size
    reducir algo a su mínima expresión ( Mat) to reduce sth to its simplest expression o form
    el suéter quedó reducido a su mínima expresión ( hum); the sweater shrank to nothing
    reducir algo EN algo to reduce sth BY sth
    pretenden reducir el gasto en cinco millones they aim to reduce costs by five million
    2 ‹fotocopia/fotografía› to reduce
    B
    1 (transformar) reducir algo A algo:
    reducir los gramos a miligramos to convert the grams to milligrams
    reducir quebrados a un mínimo común denominador to reduce fractions to their lowest common denominator
    quedaron reducidos a cenizas they were reduced to ashes
    2 ( Quím) to reduce
    3 ( AmS) ‹objeto robado› to receive, fence ( colloq)
    C (dominar, someter) ‹enemigo/rebeldes› to subdue; ‹ladrón› to overpower
    reducir a un pueblo a la esclavitud to reduce a people to slavery
    D ‹fractura/hernia› to set, reduce ( tech)
    E (CS) ‹cadáver/restos mortales› to exhume ( for reburial in a niche or smaller coffin)
    ■ reducir
    vi
    A ( Coc) to reduce, boil down
    dejar reducir la salsa leave the sauce to boil down o reduce
    B ( Auto) to shift into a lower gear, change down ( BrE)
    reducirse A algo:
    todo se reduce a saber interpretar las cifras it all comes down to knowing how to interpret the figures
    todo se redujo a una visita a la catedral y un paseo por el río in the end it was just a visit to the cathedral and a walk along the river
    * * *

     

    reducir ( conjugate reducir) verbo transitivo
    1
    a)gastos/costos to cut, reduce;

    velocidad/producción/consumo to reduce;

    reducir algo A algo to reduce sth to sth;
    reducir algo EN algo to reduce sth by sth
    b)fotocopia/fotografía to reduce

    2


    quedaron reducidos a cenizas they were reduced to ashes
    b) (AmS) ‹ objeto robado to receive, fence (colloq)

    3 ( dominar) ‹enemigo/rebeldes to subdue;
    ladrón to overpower
    reducirse verbo pronominal:

    reducir
    I verbo transitivo
    1 (disminuir) to reduce
    reducir algo en algo, to reduce sthg by sthg
    (gastos, consumo, etc) to cut (down), minimize
    2 (convertir, transformar) to reduce: el incendio redujo el bosque a cenizas, the fire reduced the wood to ashes
    3 (subyugar) to subdue
    II vi Auto to change down, US to downshift

    ' reducir' also found in these entries:
    Spanish:
    bajar
    - ceniza
    - encaminada
    - encaminado
    - moler
    - disminuir
    - minimizar
    - mínimo
    - mira
    English:
    administrative
    - austerity
    - ax
    - axe
    - change down
    - corner
    - curtail
    - cut
    - cut back
    - cut down
    - decrease
    - deficit
    - deplenish
    - deplete
    - depress
    - downsize
    - effective
    - halve
    - lighten
    - lower
    - narrow down
    - prune
    - pulp
    - rate
    - receive
    - reduce
    - retrench
    - scale down
    - shorten
    - slow
    - wind down
    - bring
    - cost
    - deaden
    - decelerate
    - diminish
    - discount
    - get
    - lessen
    - loss
    - minimize
    - over
    - pare
    - scale
    - slacken
    - traffic
    - whittle
    - wind
    * * *
    vt
    1. [disminuir] to reduce;
    [gastos, costes, impuestos, plantilla] to cut; [producción] to cut (back on);
    nos han reducido el sueldo our salary has been cut;
    reduzca la velocidad [en letrero] reduce speed now;
    reducir algo a algo to reduce sth to sth;
    el edificio quedó reducido a escombros the building was reduced to a pile of rubble;
    reducir algo al mínimo to reduce sth to a minimum;
    reducir algo a o [m5] en la mitad to reduce sth by half;
    tú todo lo reduces a tener dinero the only thing you care about is money;
    reducir a la mínima expresión to cut down to the bare minimum
    2. [fotocopia] to reduce
    3. [someter] [país, ciudad] to suppress, to subdue;
    [atracador, ladrón, sublevados] to overpower
    4. Mat [unidades de medida] to convert (a to); [fracciones, ecuaciones] to cancel out
    5. Med [hueso] to set
    6. Quím to reduce
    7. Culin [guiso, salsa] to reduce
    8. Andes, RP [objetos robados] to receive, to fence
    9. RP [cadáver] to exhume [for reburial in smaller container]
    vi
    1. [en el automóvil]
    reducir (de marcha o [m5] velocidad) to change down;
    reduce a tercera change down into third (gear)
    2. Culin [guiso, salsa] to reduce
    * * *
    v/t
    1 reduce (a to); gastos cut;
    reducir personal cut jobs, reduce staff numbers;
    reducir la marcha AUTO downshift, shift into a lower gear
    2 MIL overcome
    * * *
    reducir {61} vt
    1) disminuir: to reduce, to decrease, to cut
    2) : to subdue
    3) : to boil down
    * * *
    reducir vb to reduce

    Spanish-English dictionary > reducir

  • 2 nada

    adv.
    1 at all.
    la película no me ha gustado nada I didn't like the film at all
    no es nada extraño it's not at all strange
    la obra no es nada aburrida the play isn't the slightest bit boring
    2 a little, a bit (poco).
    no hace nada que salió he left just a minute ago
    3 not at all, not a single thing, nothing, not a bit.
    4 anything.
    intj.
    nothing at all.
    pron.
    1 nothing.
    no pasó nada nothing happened
    no he leído nada de Lorca I haven't read anything by Lorca
    nada me gustaría más que poder ayudarte there's nothing I'd like more than to be able to help you
    no hay nada como un buen libro there's nothing (quite) like a good book
    nada más nothing else, nothing more
    no quiero nada más I don't want anything else
    no dijo nada de nada he didn't say anything at all
    no es nada it's nothing serious
    esto no es nada that's nothing
    te he traído un regalito de nada I've brought you a little something
    cuesta cinco millones, ¡ahí es nada! it costs five million, a real snip!
    casi nada almost nothing
    como si nada as if nothing was the matter, as if nothing had happened
    de nada don't mention it, you're welcome (respuesta a 'gracias')
    dentro de nada any second now
    ¡nada de eso! absolutely not!
    No quiero nada I don't want any.
    2 love (en tenis). (peninsular Spanish)
    f.
    1 nothing, bugger all.
    2 little bit, trace, tiny bit, tiny little bit.
    pres.indicat.
    3rd person singular (él/ella/ello) present indicative of spanish verb: nadar.
    * * *
    1 nothing
    (no hay) nada como... there's nothing like...
    ¿te has hecho daño? --no, no ha sido nada did you hurt yourself? --no, I'm all right thank you
    1 (not) at all
    1 nothingness
    \
    antes de nada first of all
    como si nada just like that
    de nada (no hay de qué) don't mention it, think nothing of it, (US you're welcome) 2 (insignificante) insignificant
    gracias, --de nada thanks, --don't mention it
    dentro de nada in a moment
    nada de eso not at all, nothing of the kind
    ¿se casa Maribel? --¡nada de eso! is Maribel getting married? --absolutely not!, no way!
    nada más... as soon as..., no sooner...
    nada menos que no less than
    por nada for no reason at all
    por nada del mundo (not) for anything in the world
    ¡y nada de...! and don't...!
    ¡y nada de bañarse en el río! and don't go bathing in the river!
    * * *
    1. noun f. 2. adv. - de nada 3. pron.
    nothing, anything
    * * *
    1. PRON
    1) (=ninguna cosa) [con el verbo inglés en forma afirmativa] nothing; [con el verbo inglés en forma negativa] anything

    no dijo nada en toda la tarde — he said nothing all afternoon, he didn't say anything all afternoon

    no hay nada como un café después de comer — there's nothing like a coffee after your meal, nothing beats a coffee after your meal

    -¿qué has comprado? -nada — "what have you bought?" - "nothing"

    nada de, no sabe nada de español — he knows no Spanish at all, he doesn't know any Spanish at all

    -¿qué te cuentas? -nada de particular — "what's new?" - "nothing much" o "not a lot"

    ¡nada de eso! — not a bit of it!

    ¡nada de marcharse! — forget about leaving!

    nada de nada — absolutely nothing, nothing at all

    ahí
    2) [en locuciones]
    a) [con verbo]

    estuvo en nada que lo perdiesen — they very nearly lost it

    no me falta de nada — I've got everything I need

    hace nada — just a moment ago

    no se parecen en nada — they're not at all alike

    quedar(se) en nada — to come to nothing

    no reparar en nada — to stop at nothing

    no servir para nada — to be utterly useless

    no ha sido nada — it's nothing, it doesn't matter

    b) [con preposición, adverbio]

    antes de nada, antes de nada tengo que telefonear — before I do anything else I must make a phone call

    a cada nada — LAm * constantly

    casi nada, no costó casi nada — it cost next to nothing

    ¡había unas cien mil personas! ¡casi nada! — there were no fewer than a hundred thousand people there!

    como si nada, se lo advertí, pero como si nada — I warned him but it was as if I hadn't spoken

    de nada, -¡gracias! -de nada — "thanks!" - "don't mention it" o "you're welcome"

    ¡tanto revuelo por un premio de nada! — all that fuss over such a silly little prize!

    dentro de nada — very soon

    nada más, -¿desea algo más? -nada más, gracias — "can I get you anything else?" - "no, that's all thank you"

    no dijo nada más — he didn't say anything else, he said nothing else

    nada más que estoy muy cansado And, Méx it's just that I'm very tired

    (nada más y) nada menos que... — (no more and) no less than...

    han ganado nada menos que un coche — they've won a car, no less

    ni nada — or anything

    pues no es feo ni nadairó he's not ugly... much!

    para nada — at all

    -¿te gusta? -para nada — "do you like it?" - "not at all"

    por nada, por nada se echa a llorar — she's always crying over nothing o for no reason at all

    no por nada le llaman "apestoso" — he's not called "smelly" for nothing

    ¡por nada! — Cono Sur not at all!, don't mention it!

    3) [como coletilla]

    pues nada, me voy — well, I'm off then

    -¿qué pasó? -pues nada, que estuve esperando y no llegó — "what happened?" - "well, I was there waiting and he didn't arrive"

    y nada, al final nos fuimos — anyway, in the end we left

    4) (Tenis) love
    2.
    ADV not at all, by no means

    no es nada fácil — it's not at all easy, it's by no means easy

    pues no eres tú nada ambiciosoiró well you're not very ambitious, are you?... much!

    3.
    SF
    * * *
    I
    1)

    antes que or de nada — first of all

    no hay nada como... — there's nothing like...

    no es por nada pero... — don't take this the wrong way but...

    nada de nada — (fam) not a thing

    nada más: no hay nada más there's nothing else; ¿algo más? - nada más anything else? - no, that's it o that's all; nada más fui yo (Méx) I was the only one who went; salí nada más comer I went out right o straight after lunch; sacó (nada más ni) nada menos que el primer puesto she came first no less; nada más que: no se lo dije nada más que a él he's the only one I told; para nada: no me gustó para nada I didn't like it at all; como si nada (fam): me lo dijo como si nada! she told me as if it was nothing; se quedó como si nada she didn't even bat an eyelid; no hay nada que hacerle — (fam) that's all there is to it

    2)
    b) ( muy poco)

    con or de nada se rompe — it breaks just like that

    estar en nada: estuvo en nada que perdiéramos el tren — we very nearly missed the train

    c) (fam) ( uso expletivo)

    y nada, que al final no lo compró — anyway, in the end she didn't buy it

    pues nada, ya veremos qué pasa — well o anyway, we'll see what happens

    3) (Esp) ( en tenis) love
    II

    no está nada preocupadohe isn't at all o the least bit worried

    III
    1) (Fil)
    2) (Méx, RPl fam) ( pequeña cantidad)
    * * *
    = anything, nothing, nil, zero + Nombre, naught, nothingness, nowt, zilch.
    Ex. As an inveterate user of the British Museum Library he was able to confirm that 'a library is not worth anything without a catalogue'.
    Ex. Nothing happens until the ENTER key is pressed.
    Ex. While our vision of our readers is hazy and our interests in them nil, then criticism must be either trivial or irrelevant.
    Ex. In recent years special libraries have been faced with a number of important factors, including reduced purchase budgets, zero increases in staffing, and the opportunities offered by automation.
    Ex. Was everything she learned for naught? She felt extinguished.
    Ex. The emptiness and nothingness associated with writer's block is often described as a kind of death, a place where there is nothing to decide, nothing about which to express an opinion.
    Ex. There's a real danger of flying off on a tangent while writing about this as it for once is purely about politics and there's ' nowt' as controversial as that.
    Ex. Before you lend cash to Tom, Dick and Harry, be sure you know what you're doing or else your friendship will be worth zilch.
    ----
    * a cambio de nada = for nothing.
    * a nadie le importa nada = nobody + gives a damn.
    * antes de nada = before long, before + Pronombre + know what + happen, before + Pronombre + know it.
    * antes que nada = first of all, before anything else, first off, above all things.
    * a propósito de nada = for no specific reason, for no particular reason.
    * caer en la nada = fall into + the void, fall into + (empty) space.
    * casi nada = next to nothing.
    * como si nada = be right as rain, unfazed.
    * contar para nada = count + for nothing.
    * decir la verdad, toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad = to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
    * de la nada = from nowhere, out of nowhere.
    * del año de la nada = from the year dot.
    * en apenas nada = in no time at all, in next to no time, in no time.
    * en casi nada = in no time at all, in next to no time.
    * en nada de tiempo = at a moment's notice, in next to no time, in no time at all, in no time.
    * esperar sin nada que hacer = kick + Posesivo + heels.
    * estar con amigos en la calle pasando el rato sin hacer nada = hang out + on the street.
    * estar sin hacer nada = sit + idle, stand + idle.
    * hablar sin decir nada = waffle.
    * hacer como si nada = play it + cool.
    * más que nada = more than anything else.
    * nada bonito = unlovely.
    * nada claro = unclear, uncleared.
    * nada convencido = unimpressed.
    * nada convencional = unorthodox.
    * ¡nada de eso! = no dice!.
    * nada de importancia = nothing in particular.
    * nada de nada = zilch.
    * nada desdeñable = not inconsiderable.
    * nada despreciable = not inconsiderable.
    * nada en absoluto = not at all, nothing whatsoever.
    * nada en la vida es gratuito = you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs.
    * nada envidiable = unenviable.
    * nada es gratis = nothing comes without a cost.
    * nada es gratis en la viña del Señor = there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such thing as a free ride.
    * nada es mejor que = nothing beats....
    * nada + estar + más apartado de la realidad = nothing + can + be further from the truth.
    * nada + estar + más apartado de la verdad = nothing + can + be further from the truth.
    * nada + estar + más lejos de la verdad = nothing + can + be further from the truth, nothing + can + be further from the truth.
    * nada extraordinario = unremarkable.
    * nada impresionado = unimpressed.
    * nada instintivo = counter-intuitive [counterintuitive].
    * nada intuitivo = counter-intuitive [counterintuitive].
    * nada lógico = counter-intuitive [counterintuitive].
    * nada más = anything else, nothing else.
    * nada más y nada menos = as much as + Expresión Numérica.
    * nada más y nada menos que = in the order of + Cantidad, nothing less than.
    * nada más y nada menos que de/por + Cantidad = to the tune of + Cantidad.
    * nada más y nada menos que desde + Expresión Temporal = from as far back as + Expresión Temporal.
    * nada más y nada menos que + Número = as many as + Número.
    * nada materialista = unworldly.
    * nada menos que + Nombre + tan + Adjetivo + como = no less + Adjetivo + Nombre + than.
    * nada puede estar más alejado de la realidad = nothing can be further from the truth.
    * nada puede estar más apartado de la realidad = nothing can be further from the truth.
    * nada sabe mejor que sentirse delgado = nothing tastes as good as thin feels.
    * nada se acaba hasta que no se acaba = nothing is done until it's done.
    * nada sorprendente = unsurprising.
    * nada supera a = nothing beats....
    * no andar en nada bueno = be up to no good, get up to + no good.
    * no conducir a nada = be exercises in + futility.
    * no conocer a Alguien de nada = not know + Pronombre + from Adam.
    * no conocer a Alguien para nada = not know + Pronombre + from Adam.
    * no conseguir nada = achieve + nothing.
    * no deber nada = pay + Posesivo + dues.
    * no decir nada = keep + quiet.
    * no decir nada a nadie = lips + seal.
    * no encontrar nada + Adjetivo = find far from + Adjetivo.
    * no estar nada + Adjetivo = be anything but + Adjetivo.
    * no + haber + nada como = there + be + nothing like.
    * no haber nada de verdad en = there + be + any/no truth to.
    * no + haber + nada malo en = there + be + nothing wrong in/with.
    * no hacer nada = vegetate, veg out.
    * no hacer nada al respecto = leave + unchecked.
    * no hacer nada de particular = do + nothing in particular.
    * no hay nada como = nothing beats....
    * no hay nada imposible = all bets are off.
    * no hay nada mejor que = nothing beats....
    * no hay nada oculto = what you see is what you get.
    * no importar nada = not give a shit, not give a fuck.
    * no parecerse en nada a = be nothing like.
    * no perderse nada = be no great loss.
    * no querer saber más nada de = drop + Nombre + like a hot potato, drop + Nombre + like a hot brick.
    * no querer saber nada de = want + nothing to do with.
    * no querer tener nada que ver con = want + nothing to do with.
    * no revelar nada a nadie = lips + seal.
    * no ser nada = add up to + nothing.
    * no ser nada fácil = be hard-pushed to.
    * no servir de nada = be of no avail, be to no avail.
    * no servir de nada que + Subjuntivo = no use + Ving.
    * no servir para nada = be good for nothing, pissing into the wind, be of no avail, be to no avail, all + be for + naught.
    * no significar nada = add up to + nothing.
    * no suponer nada = add up to + nothing.
    * no tener nada en contra de Algo = have + nothing against, have + no quarrel about + Nombre.
    * no tener nada que perder = have + nothing to lose.
    * no tener nada que ver con = be irrelevant to.
    * no tener tiempo de nada = have + not a moment to spare.
    * o nada en absoluto = if at all.
    * para nada = in vain, to no avail, without any avail, vainly, of no avail.
    * para que no falte de nada = for good measure.
    * persona que nunca se deshace de anda = hoarder, packrat, magpie.
    * por nada = for nothing.
    * por nada del mundo = for the life of me.
    * por nada o casi nada = at little or no extra cost.
    * por no decir nada de = to say nothing of.
    * por poco o nada = at little or no extra cost.
    * por probar nada se pierde = nothing ventured, nothing gained.
    * primero que nada = first off.
    * que no conduce a nada = circuitous.
    * quien nada arriesga nada gana = nothing ventured, nothing gained.
    * reducir a la nada = reduce to + nil.
    * saber un poco de todo y mucho de nada = jack of all trades, master of none.
    * sentarse sin hacer nada = sit + idle.
    * ser nada más y nada menos que = be nothing less than.
    * servir de poco o nada = be of little or no avail.
    * servir para nada = count + for nothing.
    * sin decir nada = dumbly.
    * sin dejar nada fuera = the works!.
    * sin nada de gracia = unfunny.
    * sin nada que destacar = uneventful.
    * sin poder hacer nada = helplessly.
    * trabajar a cambio de nada = work for + nothing.
    * una cosa no + tener + nada que ver con la otra = one thing + have + nothing to do with the other.
    * y antes de nada = the next thing + Pronombre + know.
    * * *
    I
    1)

    antes que or de nada — first of all

    no hay nada como... — there's nothing like...

    no es por nada pero... — don't take this the wrong way but...

    nada de nada — (fam) not a thing

    nada más: no hay nada más there's nothing else; ¿algo más? - nada más anything else? - no, that's it o that's all; nada más fui yo (Méx) I was the only one who went; salí nada más comer I went out right o straight after lunch; sacó (nada más ni) nada menos que el primer puesto she came first no less; nada más que: no se lo dije nada más que a él he's the only one I told; para nada: no me gustó para nada I didn't like it at all; como si nada (fam): me lo dijo como si nada! she told me as if it was nothing; se quedó como si nada she didn't even bat an eyelid; no hay nada que hacerle — (fam) that's all there is to it

    2)
    b) ( muy poco)

    con or de nada se rompe — it breaks just like that

    estar en nada: estuvo en nada que perdiéramos el tren — we very nearly missed the train

    c) (fam) ( uso expletivo)

    y nada, que al final no lo compró — anyway, in the end she didn't buy it

    pues nada, ya veremos qué pasa — well o anyway, we'll see what happens

    3) (Esp) ( en tenis) love
    II

    no está nada preocupadohe isn't at all o the least bit worried

    III
    1) (Fil)
    2) (Méx, RPl fam) ( pequeña cantidad)
    * * *
    = anything, nothing, nil, zero + Nombre, naught, nothingness, nowt, zilch.

    Ex: As an inveterate user of the British Museum Library he was able to confirm that 'a library is not worth anything without a catalogue'.

    Ex: Nothing happens until the ENTER key is pressed.
    Ex: While our vision of our readers is hazy and our interests in them nil, then criticism must be either trivial or irrelevant.
    Ex: In recent years special libraries have been faced with a number of important factors, including reduced purchase budgets, zero increases in staffing, and the opportunities offered by automation.
    Ex: Was everything she learned for naught? She felt extinguished.
    Ex: The emptiness and nothingness associated with writer's block is often described as a kind of death, a place where there is nothing to decide, nothing about which to express an opinion.
    Ex: There's a real danger of flying off on a tangent while writing about this as it for once is purely about politics and there's ' nowt' as controversial as that.
    Ex: Before you lend cash to Tom, Dick and Harry, be sure you know what you're doing or else your friendship will be worth zilch.
    * a cambio de nada = for nothing.
    * a nadie le importa nada = nobody + gives a damn.
    * antes de nada = before long, before + Pronombre + know what + happen, before + Pronombre + know it.
    * antes que nada = first of all, before anything else, first off, above all things.
    * a propósito de nada = for no specific reason, for no particular reason.
    * caer en la nada = fall into + the void, fall into + (empty) space.
    * casi nada = next to nothing.
    * como si nada = be right as rain, unfazed.
    * contar para nada = count + for nothing.
    * decir la verdad, toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad = to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
    * de la nada = from nowhere, out of nowhere.
    * del año de la nada = from the year dot.
    * en apenas nada = in no time at all, in next to no time, in no time.
    * en casi nada = in no time at all, in next to no time.
    * en nada de tiempo = at a moment's notice, in next to no time, in no time at all, in no time.
    * esperar sin nada que hacer = kick + Posesivo + heels.
    * estar con amigos en la calle pasando el rato sin hacer nada = hang out + on the street.
    * estar sin hacer nada = sit + idle, stand + idle.
    * hablar sin decir nada = waffle.
    * hacer como si nada = play it + cool.
    * más que nada = more than anything else.
    * nada bonito = unlovely.
    * nada claro = unclear, uncleared.
    * nada convencido = unimpressed.
    * nada convencional = unorthodox.
    * ¡nada de eso! = no dice!.
    * nada de importancia = nothing in particular.
    * nada de nada = zilch.
    * nada desdeñable = not inconsiderable.
    * nada despreciable = not inconsiderable.
    * nada en absoluto = not at all, nothing whatsoever.
    * nada en la vida es gratuito = you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs.
    * nada envidiable = unenviable.
    * nada es gratis = nothing comes without a cost.
    * nada es gratis en la viña del Señor = there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such thing as a free ride.
    * nada es mejor que = nothing beats....
    * nada + estar + más apartado de la realidad = nothing + can + be further from the truth.
    * nada + estar + más apartado de la verdad = nothing + can + be further from the truth.
    * nada + estar + más lejos de la verdad = nothing + can + be further from the truth, nothing + can + be further from the truth.
    * nada extraordinario = unremarkable.
    * nada impresionado = unimpressed.
    * nada instintivo = counter-intuitive [counterintuitive].
    * nada intuitivo = counter-intuitive [counterintuitive].
    * nada lógico = counter-intuitive [counterintuitive].
    * nada más = anything else, nothing else.
    * nada más y nada menos = as much as + Expresión Numérica.
    * nada más y nada menos que = in the order of + Cantidad, nothing less than.
    * nada más y nada menos que de/por + Cantidad = to the tune of + Cantidad.
    * nada más y nada menos que desde + Expresión Temporal = from as far back as + Expresión Temporal.
    * nada más y nada menos que + Número = as many as + Número.
    * nada materialista = unworldly.
    * nada menos que + Nombre + tan + Adjetivo + como = no less + Adjetivo + Nombre + than.
    * nada puede estar más alejado de la realidad = nothing can be further from the truth.
    * nada puede estar más apartado de la realidad = nothing can be further from the truth.
    * nada sabe mejor que sentirse delgado = nothing tastes as good as thin feels.
    * nada se acaba hasta que no se acaba = nothing is done until it's done.
    * nada sorprendente = unsurprising.
    * nada supera a = nothing beats....
    * no andar en nada bueno = be up to no good, get up to + no good.
    * no conducir a nada = be exercises in + futility.
    * no conocer a Alguien de nada = not know + Pronombre + from Adam.
    * no conocer a Alguien para nada = not know + Pronombre + from Adam.
    * no conseguir nada = achieve + nothing.
    * no deber nada = pay + Posesivo + dues.
    * no decir nada = keep + quiet.
    * no decir nada a nadie = lips + seal.
    * no encontrar nada + Adjetivo = find far from + Adjetivo.
    * no estar nada + Adjetivo = be anything but + Adjetivo.
    * no + haber + nada como = there + be + nothing like.
    * no haber nada de verdad en = there + be + any/no truth to.
    * no + haber + nada malo en = there + be + nothing wrong in/with.
    * no hacer nada = vegetate, veg out.
    * no hacer nada al respecto = leave + unchecked.
    * no hacer nada de particular = do + nothing in particular.
    * no hay nada como = nothing beats....
    * no hay nada imposible = all bets are off.
    * no hay nada mejor que = nothing beats....
    * no hay nada oculto = what you see is what you get.
    * no importar nada = not give a shit, not give a fuck.
    * no parecerse en nada a = be nothing like.
    * no perderse nada = be no great loss.
    * no querer saber más nada de = drop + Nombre + like a hot potato, drop + Nombre + like a hot brick.
    * no querer saber nada de = want + nothing to do with.
    * no querer tener nada que ver con = want + nothing to do with.
    * no revelar nada a nadie = lips + seal.
    * no ser nada = add up to + nothing.
    * no ser nada fácil = be hard-pushed to.
    * no servir de nada = be of no avail, be to no avail.
    * no servir de nada que + Subjuntivo = no use + Ving.
    * no servir para nada = be good for nothing, pissing into the wind, be of no avail, be to no avail, all + be for + naught.
    * no significar nada = add up to + nothing.
    * no suponer nada = add up to + nothing.
    * no tener nada en contra de Algo = have + nothing against, have + no quarrel about + Nombre.
    * no tener nada que perder = have + nothing to lose.
    * no tener nada que ver con = be irrelevant to.
    * no tener tiempo de nada = have + not a moment to spare.
    * o nada en absoluto = if at all.
    * para nada = in vain, to no avail, without any avail, vainly, of no avail.
    * para que no falte de nada = for good measure.
    * persona que nunca se deshace de anda = hoarder, packrat, magpie.
    * por nada = for nothing.
    * por nada del mundo = for the life of me.
    * por nada o casi nada = at little or no extra cost.
    * por no decir nada de = to say nothing of.
    * por poco o nada = at little or no extra cost.
    * por probar nada se pierde = nothing ventured, nothing gained.
    * primero que nada = first off.
    * que no conduce a nada = circuitous.
    * quien nada arriesga nada gana = nothing ventured, nothing gained.
    * reducir a la nada = reduce to + nil.
    * saber un poco de todo y mucho de nada = jack of all trades, master of none.
    * sentarse sin hacer nada = sit + idle.
    * ser nada más y nada menos que = be nothing less than.
    * servir de poco o nada = be of little or no avail.
    * servir para nada = count + for nothing.
    * sin decir nada = dumbly.
    * sin dejar nada fuera = the works!.
    * sin nada de gracia = unfunny.
    * sin nada que destacar = uneventful.
    * sin poder hacer nada = helplessly.
    * trabajar a cambio de nada = work for + nothing.
    * una cosa no + tener + nada que ver con la otra = one thing + have + nothing to do with the other.
    * y antes de nada = the next thing + Pronombre + know.

    * * *
    A
    1 nothing
    es mejor que nada it's better than nothing
    de nada sirve que le compres libros si no los lee there's no point in buying him books if he doesn't read them
    antes que or de nada first of all
    nada te faltará or no te faltará nada you won't want for anything
    no hay nada como un buen baño caliente there's nothing like a nice hot bath
    hace dos días que no come nada he hasn't eaten a thing o anything for two days
    ¡no sirves para nada! you're useless
    no se hizo nada he wasn't hurt
    no sé por qué llora, yo no le hice nada I don't know why he's crying, I didn't touch him
    ¿te has hecho daño? — no, no ha sido nada did you hurt yourself? — no, it's nothing
    ¡perdón! — no fue nada sorry! — that's all right
    no es por nada pero … don't take this the wrong way but …
    se fue sin decir nada she left without a word
    nadie me dio nada nobody gave me anything
    nada DE algo:
    no necesita nada de azúcar it doesn't need any sugar at all
    eso no tiene nada de gracia that's not in the least bit o not at all funny
    ¡nada de juegos or jugar ahora! you're not playing o I don't want any games now!
    2 ( en locs):
    de nada you're welcome, it's a pleasure, don't mention it ( frml)
    nada de nada ( fam); not a thing
    nada más: no hay nada más there's nothing else
    ¿algo más? — nada más anything else? — no, that's it o that's all o that's the lot
    no se pudo hacer nada más or más nada por él nothing more could be done for him
    nada más fui yo ( Méx); I was the only one who went
    no nada más yo lo critico ( Méx); I'm not the only one to criticize him
    salí nada más comer I went out right o straight after lunch
    nada más llegar subió a verla as soon as he arrived he went up to see her
    nada más que: la verdad, toda la verdad y nada más que la verdad the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
    no se lo dije nada más que a él he's the only one I told, I didn't tell anyone except him o but him
    nada que … ( Andes fam): ya son las diez y nada que vienen it's already ten o'clock and there's still no sign of them
    ni nada ( fam): no me avisó ni nada ( fam); he didn't tell me or anything, he didn't even tell me
    no es ambicioso ni nada ( iró); he's not at all ambitious or anything like that! ( iro)
    para nada not … at all
    ese tema no se tocó para nada that topic didn't come up at all
    no me gustó para nada I didn't like it at all o one little bit
    ahí es nada ( fam iró): hicieron un par de millones, ahí es nada they made a couple of million … peanuts o chickenfeed! ( colloq iro)
    como si nada ( fam): ¡me lo dice como si nada! she tells me as casual as you like, and she tells me as if it was nothing
    se quedó como si nada she didn't even bat an eyelid
    se lo dije mil veces, pero como si nada I told her over and over again, but it didn't do the slightest bit of good
    no estás/está en nada ( Ven arg); you're/he's so uncool ( colloq), you don't/he doesn't have a clue ( colloq)
    no hay nada que hacerle ( fam); that's all there is to it, there are no two ways about it
    B
    1
    (algo): ¿has visto alguna vez nada igual? have you ever seen the like of it o the likes of it o anything like it?
    antes de que digas nada before you say anything
    2
    (muy poco): con or de nada se rompe it breaks just like that
    fue un golpe de nada it was only a little bump
    en nada de tiempo in no time at all
    compraron la casa por nada they bought the house for next to nothing
    dentro de nada very soon, in no time at all
    estar en nada: estuvo en nada que perdiéramos el tren we very nearly missed the train
    no nos vieron, pero estuvo en nada they didn't see us, but it was a close call o shave
    3 ( fam)
    (uso expletivo): y nada, que al final no lo compró anyway, in the end she didn't buy it
    pues nada, ya veremos qué pasa well o anyway, we'll see what happens
    C ( Esp) (en tenis) love
    quince-nada fifteen-love
    no está nada preocupado he isn't at all o the least bit worried
    anoche no dormí nada I didn't sleep a wink o at all last night
    no me gusta nada lo que has hecho I don't like what you've done one bit
    no es nada engreído el chico ( iró); he sure is vain!, he isn't half conceited! ( BrE)
    A ( Fil):
    la nada nothing
    el universo se creó de la nada the universe was created from nothing o from the void
    surgió de la nada it came out of nowhere
    B
    (Méx, RPl fam) (pequeña cantidad): ¿le diste vino al bebé? — sólo una nada did you give the baby wine? — only a tiny drop
    le puse una nada de sal I added a tiny pinch of salt
    ganó por una nada he won by a whisker
    * * *

     

    Del verbo nadar: ( conjugate nadar)

    nada es:

    3ª persona singular (él/ella/usted) presente indicativo

    2ª persona singular (tú) imperativo

    Multiple Entries:
    nada    
    nadar
    nada pronombre
    1


    de nada sirve que le compres libros there's no point in buying him books;
    antes que or de nada first of all;
    no quiere nada he doesn't want anything;
    ¡no sirves para nada! you're useless;
    sin decir nada without a word
    b) ( en locs)


    nada de nada (fam) not a thing;
    nada más: no hay nada más there's nothing else;
    ¿algo más? — nada más anything else? — no, that's it o that's all;
    nada más fui yo (Méx) I was the only one who went;
    salí nada más comer I went out right o straight after lunch;
    sacó (nada más ni) nada menos que el primer puesto she came first no less;
    para nada: no me gustó para nada I didn't like it at all;
    por nada: la compraron por nada they bought it for next to nothing;
    discuten por nada they argue over nothing;
    llora por nada she cries at the slightest little thing
    2 (Esp) ( en tenis) love;

    ■ adverbio:
    no está nada preocupado he isn't at all o the least bit worried;

    esto no me gusta nada I don't like this at all o (colloq) one bit
    nadar ( conjugate nadar) verbo intransitivo
    a) [persona/pez] to swim;

    ¿sabes nada? can you swim?;

    nada (estilo) mariposa/pecho to do (the) butterfly/breaststroke;
    nada de espalda or (Méx) de dorso to do (the) back stroke
    b) [ramas/hojas] ( flotar) to float

    c)

    nadar en ( tener mucho): nada en dinero to be rolling in money (colloq);

    el pollo nadaba en grasa the chicken was swimming in grease
    verbo transitivo
    to swim
    nada
    I pron
    1 (ninguna cosa) nothing: ¿qué te cuentas?, - nada nuevo, how it's going?, - nothing new
    (con otro negativo) nothing, not... anything: no hay nada más importante, there is nothing more important
    no tocamos nada, we didn't touch anything
    no lo cambiaría por nada del mundo, I wouldn't change it for anything on earth
    2 (en preguntas) anything: ¿no tienes nada que decir?, don't you have anything to say?
    3 (muy poco) con la niebla no veíamos nada, we couldn't see a thing in the fog
    no fue nada, (herida, golpe) I wasn't hurt
    (respuesta a una disculpa) it's all right
    4 (en ciertas construcciones) anything
    más que nada, more than anything: me importa más que nada, it means more than anything else to me
    sin decir nada, without saying anything/a word
    II adverbio not at all: no nos aburrimos nada, we weren't bored at all
    no escribe nada mal, he doesn't write at all badly
    III sustantivo femenino nothingness
    ♦ Locuciones: casi nada, almost nothing
    gracias, - de nada, thanks, - don't mention it
    más que nada: te lo digo más que nada para que no vayas a meter la pata, more than anything else I'm telling you so you don't put your foot in it
    nada más: nada más oírlo, as soon as she heard it
    familiar para nada, not at all
    nadar verbo intransitivo
    1 Dep to swim: no sé nadar, I can't swim
    2 (un objeto) to float
    3 (tener en abundancia) nada en libros, she has a lot of books
    ' nada' also found in these entries:
    Spanish:
    absolutamente
    - adelantar
    - adorno
    - amilanarse
    - amohinarse
    - balde
    - bastante
    - bregar
    - cabo
    - callar
    - calmarse
    - cero
    - ciega
    - ciego
    - clara
    - claro
    - comecome
    - como
    - comparecencia
    - concreta
    - concreto
    - conducir
    - contra
    - dar
    - débil
    - decir
    - derecha
    - desocupada
    - desocupado
    - doblar
    - doblarse
    - doble
    - ecuánime
    - embalarse
    - envidiar
    - escaramuza
    - escarceo
    - faltar
    - frescura
    - ir
    - gusto
    - hablar
    - incumbir
    - interés
    - interlunio
    - jota
    - jueves
    - maldita
    - maldito
    - más
    English:
    all
    - all right
    - amusing
    - antsy
    - anything
    - associate
    - avail
    - blank
    - board
    - breathe
    - burn
    - clash
    - clear
    - click
    - come into
    - contrary
    - cop
    - damn
    - dark
    - dark horse
    - dead
    - depth
    - dim
    - dishwater
    - disorderly
    - drone
    - dwindle
    - earth
    - earthly
    - easy
    - enforce
    - ever
    - excuse
    - first
    - flair
    - further
    - go on
    - go without
    - going
    - good
    - hand
    - hang about
    - hang around
    - hardly
    - harm
    - have
    - head
    - home
    - hot
    - ill-considered
    * * *
    pron
    1. [ninguna cosa o cantidad] nothing;
    [en negativas] anything;
    no he leído nada de Lorca I haven't read anything by Lorca;
    no pasó nada nothing happened;
    a él nada parece satisfacerle he never seems to be satisfied with anything;
    de nada vale insistir there's no point in insisting;
    nada me gustaría más que poder ayudarte there's nothing I'd like more than to be able to help you;
    no hay nada como un buen libro there's nothing (quite) like a good book;
    tranquilos, no es nada don't worry, it's nothing serious;
    casi nada almost nothing;
    de nada, Am [m5] por nada [respuesta a “gracias”] you're welcome, don't mention it;
    esto no es nada that's nothing;
    no queda nada de café there's no coffee left;
    no tengo nada de ganas de ir I don't feel like going at all;
    no dijo nada de nada he didn't say anything at all;
    no me ha gustado nada de nada I didn't like it at all o one little bit;
    nada de quejas, ¿de acuerdo? no complaining, right?, I don't want any complaints, right?;
    nada más nothing else, nothing more;
    ¿desean algo más? – nada más, gracias do you want anything else? – no, that's everything o all, thank you;
    no quiero nada más I don't want anything else;
    me dio de plazo dos días nada más she only gave me two days to do it;
    me ha costado nada más que 20 dólares it only cost me 20 dollars;
    ¡tanto esfuerzo para nada! all that effort for nothing!
    2. [poco, muy poco]
    yo apenas sé nada de ese tema I hardly know anything about that subject;
    es muy frágil y con nada se parte it's very fragile and is easily broken;
    dentro de nada any second now;
    lo he visto salir hace nada I saw him leave just a moment ago o just this minute;
    no hace nada que salió he left just a moment ago o just this minute;
    por nada se enfada she gets angry at the slightest thing, it doesn't take much for her to get angry;
    CAm, Col, Ven Fam
    a cada nada every five minutes, constantly;
    Méx
    en nada estuvo que se casara he very nearly got married
    3. Esp [en tenis] love;
    treinta nada thirty love
    4. [expresando negación]
    ¡nada de eso! absolutely not!;
    no pienso ir, ni llamar, ni nada I won't go, or call, or anything;
    no tenemos ni coche, ni moto, ni nada que se le parezca we don't have a car or a motorbike, or anything of that sort
    5. Comp
    ¡ahí es nada!, ¡casi nada!: cuesta cinco millones, ¡ahí es nada! o [m5]¡casi nada! it costs a cool five million!;
    como si nada as if nothing was the matter, as if nothing had happened;
    (nada más y) nada menos que [cosa] no less than;
    [persona] none other than; Fam
    ni nada: ¡no es alta ni nada la chica! she's tall all right!, you could say she's tall!;
    no es por nada: no es por nada pero creo que estás equivocado don't take this the wrong way, but I think you're mistaken;
    no es por nada pero llevas la bragueta abierta by the way, your fly's undone
    adv
    1. [en absoluto] at all;
    la película no me ha gustado nada I didn't like the movie at all;
    no he dormido nada I didn't get any sleep at all;
    no es nada extraño it's not at all strange;
    la obra no es nada aburrida the play isn't the slightest bit boring;
    no está nada mal it's not at all bad;
    no nos llevamos nada bien we don't get on at all well;
    Fam
    ¿te importa que me quede? – ¡para nada! do you mind if I stay? – of course not! o not at all!
    2. Fam [enfático]
    nada, que no hay manera de convencerle but no, he just refuses to be convinced
    nf
    1.
    la nada nothingness, the void;
    [el no ser]
    salir o [m5] surgir de la nada to appear out of o from nowhere
    2. Méx, RP Fam [muy poco]
    le pedí plata y me dio una nada I asked him for some money and he gave me next to nothing;
    comí una nada de helado I had a tiny bit of ice cream
    de nada loc adj
    te he traído un regalito de nada I've brought you a little something;
    es sólo un rasguño de nada it's just a little scratch
    nada más loc adv
    1. [al poco de]
    nada más salir de casa… no sooner had I left the house than…, as soon as I left the house…;
    nos iremos nada más cenar we'll go as soon as we've had dinner, we'll go straight after dinner
    2. Méx [solamente]
    nada más vine yo I'm the only one who's come
    3. Méx [sin más]
    de la fiesta regresaron a casa y nada más they went straight home after the party
    * * *
    I pron nothing;
    no hay nada there isn’t anything;
    no es nada it’s nothing;
    nada más nothing else;
    nada menos que no less than;
    nada de nada nothing at all;
    para nada not at all;
    no lo entiendes para nada you don’t understand at all;
    lo dices como si nada you talk about it as if it was nothing;
    más que nada more than anything;
    no lo haría por nada del mundo I wouldn’t do it if you paid me;
    por menos de nada for no reason at all;
    nada más llegar as soon as I arrived;
    antes de nada first of all;
    ¡nada de eso! fam you can put that idea out of your head;
    ¡casi nada! peanuts!;
    ¡de nada! you’re welcome, not at all;
    pues nada, … well, …
    II adv not at all;
    no ha llovido nada it hasn’t rained;
    no estoy nada contento I’m not at all happy
    III f nothingness
    * * *
    nada adv
    : not at all, not in the least
    no estamos nada cansados: we are not at all tired
    nada nf
    1) : nothingness
    2) : smidgen, bit
    una nada le disgusta: the slightest thing upsets him
    nada pron
    1) : nothing
    no estoy haciendo nada: I'm not doing anything
    2)
    casi nada : next to nothing
    3)
    de nada : you're welcome
    4)
    dentro de nada : very soon, in no time
    5)
    nada más : nothing else, nothing more
    * * *
    nada1 adv at all
    nada2 pron
    1. nothing / not... anything
    no hay nada, está vacío there's nothing there, it's empty
    2. (en tenis) love
    de nada (como respuesta) you're welcome / don't mention it (sin importancia) little / slight
    nada de no / any
    no tengo nada de dinero I've got no money / I haven't got any money
    no habla nada de inglés he speaks no English / doesn't speak any English
    nada más... as soon as...
    nada más entrar, vi a Fernando I saw Fernando as soon as I went in

    Spanish-English dictionary > nada

  • 3 цель

    сущ.
    1. aim; 2. target; 3. purpose; 4. object; 5. objective; 6. goal; 7. end; 8. point
    Русское существительное цель многозначно и относится как к физической, так и к интеллектуальной сферам деятельности, не указывает на конкретные причины, называющие цель и желаемый результат. В английском же языке эквиваленты, напротив, содержат в себе указание на причины, характер самой цели и желаемый результат.
    1. aim — (существительное aim многозначно и соответствует двум значениям русского слова цель): a) цель, прицел, прицеливание, линия прицела: to take aim — прицеливаться; to miss the aim — промахнуться/не попасть в цель; to hit the aim — попасть в цель My aim wasn't very good and the ball went over the fence. — Я плохо прицелился, и мяч улетел через забор. What part of the target are you taking aim at? — В какую часть мишени ты целишься? Не quickly regained his balance, took aim, and fired. — Он быстро вновь обрел равновесие, прицелился и выстрелил. b) цель, намерение, план, планы, стремление, замыслы (то что вы надеетесь достичь, приложив усилия): sinister aims — зловещие замыслы; ambicious aims — честолюбивые планы The aim of the project is to help patients to be more independent. — Цель этого проекта — помочь пациентам стать более самостоятельными. The group was committed to achieving its aims through peaceful means. — Группа стремится к достижению своих целей мирными средствами. The council's aim is to improve services and cut costs. — Цель комитета — улучшить обслуживание и сократить расходы. The course's aim is to train students to develop their communicative skills. — Цель курса — помочь студентам развить их коммуникативные навыки.
    2. target — (существительное target многозначно; используется в прямом смысле как объект атаки/нападения, а также и в метафорическом, переносном смысле: цель деятельности): a) цель, мишень (при стрельбе, в спорте, игре), объект для нападения, объект для критики, объект для насмешек и т. д.: Few players managed to get their shots on target. — Мало кто из игроков смог послать мяч в цель./Мало кто из игроков смог послать стрелу в цель. Foreigners have become targets for attack by terrorists. — Иностранцы стали объектом нападения террористов. The house was left vacant and therefore a target for vandals. — Оставленный пустым дом стал объектом нападения вандалов./Оставленный пустым дом стал объектом нападения хулиганов. His war records became a target for his enemies. — Его военные заслуги сделали его мишенью для нападок недоброжелателей. b) заданная цель, поставленная задача ( часто выраженная в деньгах): prime target — приоритетная задача; to set a target — ставить цель/поставить задачу; to meet a target — достичь цели Target for the appeal is $20.000 for children's charities. — Цель обращения — собрать двадцать тысяч долларов на благотворительные цели для нуждающихся детей. The magazine has a target readership of half a million people. — Журнал ставит своей целью достичь полумиллионного тиража. We think teenagers are a prime target for the anti-smoking campaign. — Нам кажется, что основным объектом кампании против курения являются подростки.
    3. purpose — цель ( предполагает получение желаемого результата путем конкретных действий): specific (definite, unchanging, common, essential, temporary) purpose — особая (ясная, неизменная, общая, основная, временная) цель; in/with didactic/educational (patriotic, propagandistic) purposes — в воспитательных (патриотических, пропагандистских) целях; the sole purpose of doing it — единственная цель этих действий; to pursue a purpose — преследовать цель The author's purpose in writing this book was to draw attention to the problems of homeless children. — Автор написал эту книгу с целью привлечь внимание к судьбе/проблемам бездомных детей. The purpose of his tour is to attend the conference. — Цель его поездки — участие в конференции. The purpose of this dictionary is to help students of English. — Цель этого словаря — помочь изучающим английский язык./Задача этого словаря — помочь изучающим английский язык. Her sole purpose in being here was to kill some time. — Единственной целью ее прихода сюда было убить время. You must decide which method suits your purpose best. — Вы должны решить, какой метод наиболее соответствует вашей цели.
    4. object — цель, конечная цель (нечто, что вы планируете достичь, особенно труднодостижимое; употребляется только в единственном числе): the object of the exercise — цель ( любого) действия His object was to gain time until help could arrive. — У него была одна цель — выиграть время, пока не придет помощь. The object of the research is to find a cure for this illness. — Цель этого исследования — найти средство от этой болезни. In this game the object is to score as many points as you can in the time given. — Цель этой игры — набрать как можно больше очков в заданное время.
    5. objective — цель, задача, стремление (конечный результат, на который направлена вся деятельность; употребляется в основном в ситуациях, связанных с бизнесом и политикой): key objective — основная цель; primary/prime/principal objective — основная цель/важная цель; overriding objective — первостепенная цель/ приоритетная цель; ultimate objective — конечная цель; to accomplish/to achieve/to attain an objective — достигать цели; to fulfill/to meet/to reach one's objectives — выполнить задуманное/выполнить за планированное/ довести задуманное до конца/достигнуть цели I am not sure I understand the objective of this exercise. — Я не совсем понимаю цель этой деятельности. The main objective for unions should still be to safeguard the wages and conditions of their members. — Основной целью профсоюзов должны оставаться недопущение понижения зарплаты и ухудшения условий труда. One of the objectives behind the current advertising compaign is to increase sales overseas. — Одна из целей проводимой рекламной кампании — увеличение продаж за рубежом. This company is constantly failing to achieve its objectives. — Эта фирма почти никогда не добивается своих целей.
    6. goal — цель, задачи, планы, стремления, перспективы на будущее ( обозначает планыличные или общественныекак ориентир для дальнейшего развития, даже если на достижение их потребуется длительный период): definite (ultimate, desired, stimulating) goal — четкие (конечные, желаемые, стимулирующие/придающие мотивированность деятельности) планы/четкие (конечные, желаемые, стимулирующие/придающие мотивированность деятельности) задачи/четкие (конечные, желаемые, стимулирующие/придающие мотивированность деятельности) цели; veiled (vague, illusory, mysterious) goal — неясные (туманные, иллюзорные, загадочные) цели/иеясные (туманные, иллюзорные, загадочные) перспективы; luminous (glittering, common, traditional, selfsame) goal — сияющие (манящие, обычные, общепринятые, неизменные) цели/сияющие (манящие, обычные, общепринятые, неизменные) планы/сияющие (манящие, обычные, общепринятые, неизменные) задачи; to achieve/to attain (to cherish, to gain, to realize) goal (s) — достигать (лелеять, добиваться, реализовать/воплощать) цели Our goal is to provide a good standard of medical care. — Наша цель — добиваться высокого уровня медицинского обслуживания. You should set goals for yourself at the beginning of each school year. — Ежегодно в начале учебного года следует ставить перед собой цели на этот год./Ежегодно в начале учебного года следует продумывать, чего ты хотел бы достичь в предстоящем году. More motivation can be created if the children have definite goals toward which they can work. — Если перед детьми стоят ясные цели, их работа может быть более мотивированной./Если перед детьми стоят ясные цели, их работа может быть более осмысленной. Our goal is to radically reduce unemployment within five years. — Наша цель — радикально сократить уровень безработицы в течение следующих пяти лет./Наша задача — радикально сократить уровень безработицы в ближайшие пять лет.
    7. end — конечная цель (в данном значении end употребляется только во множественном числе, предполагает корыстные устремления/ цели/интересы, часто нечестные средства их достижения): selfish (personal, sordid/dirty, petty, shameful, disastrous) ends — эгоистические (личные, грязные, низменные, постыдные, губительные) цели/эгоистические (личные, грязные, низменные, постыдные, губительные) интересы/эгоистические (личные, грязные, низменные, постыдные, губительные) устремления; political (commercial) ends — политические (коммерческие/торговые) соображения/политические (коммерческие/торговые) цели The demonstrators' ends do not justify their means. — Цели демонстрантов не оправдывают используемые ими средства. Racial tension in the country is exaggerated for political ends. — Напряженность расовых отношений в стране преувеличивается в политических целях./Напряженность расовых отношений в стране раздувается в политических целях. She used people for her own ends. — Она пользовалась людьми в своих корыстных целях. Business manipulates political issues for commercial ends. — Бизнес тенденциозно манипулирует политическими вопросами для достижении своих коммерческих целей.
    8. point — цель, задача, смысл (в данном значении используется только в единственном числе; употребляется для разъяснения стоящих задач, смысла деятельности): crucial (focal, fundamenial, important, key, main) point — решающая (центральная, основная, ключевая, важная, приоритетная) цель (чего-либо); to illustrate one's point — пояснять свои цели/проиллюстрировать смысл своей деятельности; to prove one's point —доказывать смысл своей деятельности/доказывать цель своей деятельности The point of these events is to raise money for children in need. — Цель этих действий — собрать деньги для нуждающихся детей. What's the point in keeping all these clothes that the children have grown out of? — Какой толк хранить всю эту одежду, из которой дети давно выросли?/Какой смысл хранить всю эту одежду, из которой дети давно выросли?/Зачем хранить всю эту одежду, из которой дети давно выросли?/ С какой целью хранить всю эту одежду, из которой дети давно выросли? I'm sorry, I just don't see the point of doing this. — Простите, но я не понимаю, зачем надо это делать./Простите, но я не вижу смысла, зачем надо это делать. I see no point discussing this any further. — Я не вижу смысла обсуждать дальше этот вопрос/Бесцельно обсуждать дальше этот вопрос./Бессмысленно обсуждать дальше этот вопрос. What's the point? — Зачем?/С какой целью? цивилизованный civilized см. культурный(о стране или обществе)

    Русско-английский объяснительный словарь > цель

  • 4 mínimo

    adj.
    minimal, lowest, least, minimum.
    m.
    minimum.
    * * *
    1 minimum, lowest
    1 minimum
    \
    como mínimo at least
    ni la más mínima idea not the faintest (idea)
    mínimo común múltiplo lowest common multiple
    ————————
    1 minimum
    * * *
    1. noun m. 2. (f. - mínima)
    adj.
    1) least, smallest
    * * *
    1. ADJ
    1) (=inferior) [nivel, cantidad] minimum

    tarifa mínima: 2 euros — minimum fare: 2 euros

    lo mínimo, es lo mínimo que podemos hacer — it's the least we can do

    lo más mínimo — the least o the slightest

    el dinero no me interesa lo más mínimoI'm not the least o the slightest bit interested in money

    precio mínimo — minimum price

    en un tiempo mínimo — in no time at all

    múltiplo 2., salario, servicio 1), c)
    2) (=muy pequeño) [habitación, letra] tiny, minute; [detalle] minute; [gasto, beneficio] minimal
    3) [plazo]
    2. SM
    1) (=cantidad mínima) minimum

    ¿cuál es el mínimo? — what is the minimum?

    bajo mínimos — Esp [credibilidad, moral] at rock bottom; [consumo, presupuesto] very low

    con el presupuesto bajo mínimos — with the budget cut back to a minimum, with a very low budget

    como mínimo — at least

    eso costará, como mínimo, 40 euros — that will cost at least 40 euros

    un mínimo de algo — a minimum of sth

    reducir algo al mínimo — to keep o reduce sth to a minimum

    2) (Econ) record low, lowest point
    3) (Mat) [de una función] minimum
    4) (Meteo)

    mínimo de presión — low-pressure area, trough

    mínima
    5) Caribe (Aut) choke
    * * *
    I
    - ma adjetivo
    a) <temperatura/peso> minimum (before n)
    b) ( insignificante) < detalle> minor
    c) ( muy pequeño) minute, tiny
    II
    masculino minimum

    con un mínimo de esfuerzowith a o the minimum of effort

    con un mínimo de sentido común — with the least bit of (common) sense, with a modicum of sense (frml)

    * * *
    = bare [barer -comp., barest -sup.], low [lower -comp., lowest -sup.], minimal, minimum, negligible, reduced, baseline [base line], monadic, lower bound, razor-thin, paltry [paltrier -comp., paltriest -sup.], measly [measlier -comp., measliest -sup.].
    Ex. Those are just the bare beginnings.
    Ex. Carlton Duncan discussed the difficulties built into the educational processes which led to under-performance at school and the resulting low representation in higher education and low entry into the professions.
    Ex. The intellectual input at the indexing stage is minimal, even in systems where in the interest of enhanced consistency there is some intervention at the indexing stage.
    Ex. When used by skilled abstractors this mixture of styles can achieve the maximum transmission of information, within a minimum length.
    Ex. Microforms are obviously very compact, and the microforms themselves occupy negligible space.
    Ex. The model shows that market concentration rises with inelastic demand, reduced marginal costs and efficient technology.
    Ex. This article describes the development of the first baseline inventory of information resources at the U.S.
    Ex. Modern economic theory, with its bias in favor of atomistic or monadic analysis, fails to take into account ethical questions.
    Ex. The resulting cost and benefit models permit estimating a lower bound on benefits and the calculations of net benefits (benefits less costs).
    Ex. Let's not squabble about the fact that Bush actually eked out a razor-thin victory in the popular vote.
    Ex. And there is no guarantee that any of the paltry sums of extra money available will actually benefit the workers in the recipient countries.
    Ex. Despite the Bank of England's base rate having risen by a full percentage point, the average savings rate is still ' measly'.
    ----
    * a un coste mínimo = at (a) minimum cost.
    * como mínimo = at least, conservatively, at a minimum.
    * como mínimo hasta que = minimally until.
    * con sólo una mínima idea de = with only the sketchiest idea of.
    * con unos costes mínimos = with minimum costs.
    * coste mínimo = minimal cost, minimum cost.
    * diferencia entre... y... es mínima = line between... and... is thin.
    * en lo más mínimo = not in the least + Nombre Negativo.
    * grupo mínimo relacionado = minimum zone cohort.
    * lo más mínimo = so much as.
    * lo mínimo = bare necessities, the.
    * mantener Algo al mínimo = keep + Nombre + at a minimum.
    * mínima parte = fraction.
    * nivel mínimo del agua = low-water mark.
    * no importar lo más mínimo = could not care less.
    * no tener la más mínima idea sobre Algo = Negativo + have + the foggiest idea.
    * precio mínimo = threshold price.
    * reducción al mínimo = minimisation [minimization, -USA].
    * reducido al mínimo = stripped down.
    * reducir al mínimo = minimise [minimize, -USA], reduce to + a minimum, cut down to + a minimum, keep to + a (bare) minimum, cut to + the bone.
    * reducir a lo mínimo = cut to + the bone.
    * salario mínimo = living wage, minimum salary, poverty level.
    * salario mínimo, el = minimum wage, the.
    * ser mínimo = be at a minimum.
    * servicios mínimos = skeleton staff.
    * sin la más mínima de duda = without a shadow of a doubt.
    * sin la más mínima duda = beyond a shadow of a doubt.
    * temperatura mínima = minimum temperature.
    * vivir con lo mínimo = live on + a shoestring (budget).
    * * *
    I
    - ma adjetivo
    a) <temperatura/peso> minimum (before n)
    b) ( insignificante) < detalle> minor
    c) ( muy pequeño) minute, tiny
    II
    masculino minimum

    con un mínimo de esfuerzowith a o the minimum of effort

    con un mínimo de sentido común — with the least bit of (common) sense, with a modicum of sense (frml)

    * * *
    = bare [barer -comp., barest -sup.], low [lower -comp., lowest -sup.], minimal, minimum, negligible, reduced, baseline [base line], monadic, lower bound, razor-thin, paltry [paltrier -comp., paltriest -sup.], measly [measlier -comp., measliest -sup.].

    Ex: Those are just the bare beginnings.

    Ex: Carlton Duncan discussed the difficulties built into the educational processes which led to under-performance at school and the resulting low representation in higher education and low entry into the professions.
    Ex: The intellectual input at the indexing stage is minimal, even in systems where in the interest of enhanced consistency there is some intervention at the indexing stage.
    Ex: When used by skilled abstractors this mixture of styles can achieve the maximum transmission of information, within a minimum length.
    Ex: Microforms are obviously very compact, and the microforms themselves occupy negligible space.
    Ex: The model shows that market concentration rises with inelastic demand, reduced marginal costs and efficient technology.
    Ex: This article describes the development of the first baseline inventory of information resources at the U.S.
    Ex: Modern economic theory, with its bias in favor of atomistic or monadic analysis, fails to take into account ethical questions.
    Ex: The resulting cost and benefit models permit estimating a lower bound on benefits and the calculations of net benefits (benefits less costs).
    Ex: Let's not squabble about the fact that Bush actually eked out a razor-thin victory in the popular vote.
    Ex: And there is no guarantee that any of the paltry sums of extra money available will actually benefit the workers in the recipient countries.
    Ex: Despite the Bank of England's base rate having risen by a full percentage point, the average savings rate is still ' measly'.
    * a un coste mínimo = at (a) minimum cost.
    * como mínimo = at least, conservatively, at a minimum.
    * como mínimo hasta que = minimally until.
    * con sólo una mínima idea de = with only the sketchiest idea of.
    * con unos costes mínimos = with minimum costs.
    * coste mínimo = minimal cost, minimum cost.
    * diferencia entre... y... es mínima = line between... and... is thin.
    * en lo más mínimo = not in the least + Nombre Negativo.
    * grupo mínimo relacionado = minimum zone cohort.
    * lo más mínimo = so much as.
    * lo mínimo = bare necessities, the.
    * mantener Algo al mínimo = keep + Nombre + at a minimum.
    * mínima parte = fraction.
    * nivel mínimo del agua = low-water mark.
    * no importar lo más mínimo = could not care less.
    * no tener la más mínima idea sobre Algo = Negativo + have + the foggiest idea.
    * precio mínimo = threshold price.
    * reducción al mínimo = minimisation [minimization, -USA].
    * reducido al mínimo = stripped down.
    * reducir al mínimo = minimise [minimize, -USA], reduce to + a minimum, cut down to + a minimum, keep to + a (bare) minimum, cut to + the bone.
    * reducir a lo mínimo = cut to + the bone.
    * salario mínimo = living wage, minimum salary, poverty level.
    * salario mínimo, el = minimum wage, the.
    * ser mínimo = be at a minimum.
    * servicios mínimos = skeleton staff.
    * sin la más mínima de duda = without a shadow of a doubt.
    * sin la más mínima duda = beyond a shadow of a doubt.
    * temperatura mínima = minimum temperature.
    * vivir con lo mínimo = live on + a shoestring (budget).

    * * *
    mínimo1 -ma
    1 ‹temperatura/cantidad/peso› minimum ( before n)
    los beneficios han sido mínimos profits have been minimal
    no le importa lo más mínimo he couldn't care less, he doesn't care in the least
    el trabajo no le interesa en lo más mínimo he is not in the least o slightest bit interested in his work
    [ S ] consumición/tarifa mínima 2 euros minimum charge 2 euros
    no tengo la más mínima idea I haven't the faintest o slightest idea
    no se preocupa en lo más mínimo por su familia she doesn't show the slightest concern for her family
    me contó hasta los detalles más mínimos de su experiencia he told me about his experience in minute detail
    era lo mínimo que podía hacer it was the least I could do
    2 (muy pequeño) minute, tiny
    una casa de proporciones mínimas a tiny house, a house of minute proportions
    Compuesto:
    mínimo común denominador/múltiplo
    lowest common denominator/multiple
    la bolsa ha alcanzado el mínimo del año the stock exchange has reached its lowest point this year
    pretende hacer todo con un mínimo de esfuerzo he tries to do everything with a minimum of effort o with as little effort as possible
    gana un mínimo de $50.000 she earns a minimum of $50,000
    no tiene ni un mínimo de educación she has absolutely no manners
    al menos podría tener un mínimo de respeto he could at least show a little (bit of) o a modicum of respect
    para hacer ese trabajo tiene que tener un mínimo de inteligencia a modicum of intelligence is required to do this job
    si tuvieras un mínimo de sentido común, no habrías hecho eso if you had any sense at all o if you had a modicum of sense, you wouldn't have done that
    tendrá, como mínimo, unos 40 años he must be at least forty
    como mínimo podrías haberle dado las gracias you could at least have thanked him
    habrá que reducir al mínimo los gastos costs will have to be kept to a minimum
    * * *

     

    mínimo 1
    ◊ -ma adjetivo

    a)temperatura/peso minimum ( before n);


    el trabajo no le interesa en lo más mínimo he is not in the slightest (bit) interested in his work;
    no tengo la más mínima idea I haven't the faintest idea

    diferencia/beneficios minimal
    mínimo 2 sustantivo masculino
    minimum;

    como mínimo at least
    mínimo,-a
    I adjetivo
    1 (muy pequeño) minute, tiny
    2 (muy escaso) minimal
    3 (menor posible) minimum
    sueldo mínimo, minimum wage/salary
    II sustantivo masculino minimum
    un mínimo de dos meses, a minimum of two months
    mil pesetas como mínimo, a thousand pesetas at least

    ' mínimo' also found in these entries:
    Spanish:
    baja
    - bajo
    - denominador
    - ínfima
    - ínfimo
    - mínima
    - mínimamente
    - múltipla
    - múltiplo
    - salario
    - tasar
    - consumo
    - minimizar
    English:
    bare
    - cheap
    - deposit
    - least
    - low
    - lowest
    - minimal
    - minimum
    - minimum wage
    - say
    - sense
    - skeleton
    - slight
    - light
    - lowest common denominator
    - marginal
    - minimize
    - minute
    - modicum
    - quick
    - scrap
    - very
    * * *
    mínimo, -a
    superlativo
    ver pequeño
    adj
    1. [lo más bajo posible o necesario] minimum;
    la mínima puntuación para aprobar es el cinco you need a minimum score of five to pass;
    salario o [m5] sueldo mínimo minimum wage;
    lo mínimo que podría hacer es disculparse the least she could do is apologize
    Mat mínimo común denominador lowest common denominator; Mat mínimo común múltiplo lowest common multiple
    2. [muy pequeño] [efecto, importancia] minimal, very small;
    [protesta, ruido] slightest;
    no tengo la más mínima idea I haven't the slightest idea;
    sus hijos no le importan lo más mínimo he couldn't care less about his children;
    en este país no existe la más mínima libertad there's absolutely no freedom at all in this country;
    en lo más mínimo in the slightest
    nm
    minimum;
    trabaja un mínimo de 10 horas she works a minimum of 10 hours;
    al mínimo to a minimum;
    pon la calefacción al mínimo put the heating at minimum;
    la libra alcanzó un mínimo histórico frente al dólar the pound reached an all-time low against the dollar;
    no tiene un mínimo de sentido común he hasn't an ounce of common sense;
    si tuviera un mínimo de decencia la llamaría if he had an ounce of decency he'd call her;
    estar bajo mínimos [de comida, gasolina] to have almost run out;
    la popularidad del presidente se encuentra bajo mínimos the president's popularity is at rock bottom;
    el equipo se presenta a la final bajo mínimos the team is going into the final well below strength o with a severely depleted side
    como mínimo loc adv
    [como muy tarde] at the latest; [como poco] at the very least;
    llegaremos como mínimo a las cinco we'll be there by five at the latest;
    si te vas, como mínimo podrías avisar if you're going to leave, you could at least let me know
    * * *
    I adj minimum;
    como mínimo at the very least;
    no me interesa lo más mínimo I’m not in the least interested
    II m minimum
    * * *
    mínimo, -ma adj
    1) : minimum
    salario mínimo: minimum wage
    2) : least, smallest
    3) : very small, minute
    1) : minimum, least amount
    2) : modicum, small amount
    3)
    como mínimo : at least
    * * *
    mínimo1 adj minimum
    el más mínimo... the slightest...
    mínimo2 n minimum

    Spanish-English dictionary > mínimo

  • 5 bajar

    v.
    1 to take/bring down (poner abajo) (libro, cuadro).
    2 to go/come down (descender) (montaña, escaleras).
    bajó las escaleras a toda velocidad she ran down the stairs as fast as she could
    bajar en ascensor to go/come down in the lift o (British) elevator (United States)
    bajar por la escalera to go/come down the stairs
    bajar (a) por algo to go out and get something
    bajar corriendo to run down
    3 to reduce.
    bajar el fuego (de la cocina) to reduce the heat
    4 to lower (ojos, cabeza, voz).
    5 to download (informal) (computing).
    6 to fall, to drop.
    este modelo ha bajado de precio this model has gone down in price, the price of this model has gone down
    bajó la Bolsa share prices fell
    las acciones de C & C han bajado C & C share prices have fallen
    7 to descend, to come down, to decrease, to drop.
    Bajó el calor The heat descended.
    El hielo bajó la temperatura The ice reduced the temperature.
    8 to step down, to stand down, to climb down, to get down.
    Ricardo bajó del camión Richard stepped down from the truck.
    9 to take down, to discharge, to carry down, to get down.
    Pedro bajó el equipaje Peter took down the luggage.
    10 to put down, to lower, to put in a lower position.
    Ella bajó su mano She put down her hand.
    11 to go down, to descend.
    Ese elevador baja That elevator goes down.
    12 to have less.
    Me bajó la temperatura I have less temperature.
    13 to walk down, to descend.
    Ella bajó el camino al mar She walked down the path to the sea.
    * * *
    1 (coger algo de un lugar alto) to get down, take down
    ¿has bajado las persianas? have you lowered the blinds?
    ese cuadro está muy alto, bájalo un poco that picture's too high, bring it down a bit
    3 (reducir) to lower, reduce, bring down
    4 (reducir en intensidad) to lower; (voz) to lower; (sonido, luz, gas) to turn down
    baja la voz, que te van a oír lower your voice, they'll hear you
    baja la tele un poco, no te oigo turn the telly down, I can't hear you
    baja la calefacción, hace calor turn the heating down, it's hot
    5 (alargar) to lengthen, let down
    6 (recorrer de arriba abajo) to go down, come down
    7 (en informática) to download
    1 (ir abajo - acercándose) to come down; (- alejándose) to go down
    ¡baja de ahí ahora mismo! come down from there right now!
    ¿bajas en ascensor o por la escalera? are you going down in the lift or by the stairs?
    bajó corriendo/volando he ran/flew down
    2 (reducirse) to fall, drop, come down
    3 (hinchazón) to go down; (fiebre) to go down, come down
    4 (marea) to go out
    5 (apearse - de coche) to get out (de, of); (de bicicleta, caballo) to get off (de, -); (de avión, tren, autobús) to get off (de, -)
    1 (ir abajo - acercándose) to come down; (- alejándose) to go down
    2 (apearse - de coche) to get out (de, -); (bicicleta, caballo) to get off (de, -); (avión, tren, autobús) to get off (de, -)
    3 (agacharse) to bend down, bend over
    \
    bajarse la cabeza to bow one's head
    no bajar de... to be at least..., not be less than...
    * * *
    verb
    3) fall
    - bajarse
    * * *
    1. VT
    1) (=llevar abajo) to take down; (=traer abajo) to bring down

    ¿has bajado la basura? — have you taken the rubbish down?

    ¿me bajas el abrigo?, hace frío aquí fuera — could you bring my coat down? it's cold out here

    ¿me baja a la Plaza Mayor? — [en taxi] could you take me to the Plaza Mayor?

    2) (=mover hacia abajo) [+ bandera, ventanilla] to lower; [+ persiana] to put down, lower
    3) [con partes del cuerpo] [+ brazos] to drop, lower

    bajó la vista o los ojos — he looked down

    bajó la cabezashe bowed o lowered her head

    4) (=reducir) [+ precio] to lower, put down; [+ fiebre, tensión, voz] to lower
    5) [+ radio, televisión, gas] to turn down

    baja la radio que no oigo nada — turn the radio down, I can't hear a thing

    ¡baja la voz, que no estoy sordo! — keep your voice down, I'm not deaf!

    6)

    bajar la escalera[visto desde arriba] to go down the stairs; [visto desde abajo] to come down the stairs

    7) (=perder) to lose
    8) (Inform) to download
    9) (=humillar) to humble, humiliate
    10) Caribe ** (=pagar) to cough up *, fork out *
    11) And ** (=matar) to do in **
    2. VI
    1) (=descender) [visto desde arriba] to go down; [visto desde abajo] to come down

    ¡ahora bajo! — I'll be right down!

    2) (=apearse) [de autobús, avión, tren, moto, bici, caballo] to get off; [de coche] to get out

    bajar de[+ autobús, avión, tren, moto, bici, caballo] to get off; [+ coche] to get out of

    3) (=reducirse) [temperatura, fiebre, tensión arterial] to go down, fall, drop; [hinchazón, calidad] to go down
    4)

    bajar de (=perder)

    5)

    no bajar de (=no ser menos de)

    6) [regla] to start
    3.
    See:
    BAJAR De vehículos Bajar(se) de un vehículo privado o de un taxi se traduce por get out of, mientras que bajar(se) de un vehículo público (tren, autobús, avión {etc}) se traduce por get off: Bajó del coche y nos saludó She got out of the car and said hello No baje del tren en marcha Don't get off the train while it is still moving ► Debe emplearse get off cuando nos referimos a bicicletas, motos y animales de montura: Se bajó de la bicicleta He got off his bicycle Otros verbos de movimiento Bajar la escalera/ la cuesta {etc}, por regla general, se suele traducir por come down o por go down, según la dirección del movimiento (hacia o en sentido contrario del hablante), pero come y go se pueden substituir por otros verbos de movimiento si la oración española especifica la forma en que se baja mediante el uso de adverbios o construcciones adverbiales: Bajó las escaleras deprisa y corriendo She rushed down the stairs Bajó la cuesta tranquilamente He ambled down the hill Para otros usos y ejemplos ver la entrada
    * * *
    1.
    verbo intransitivo
    1)
    a) ascensor/persona ( alejándose) to go down; ( acercándose) to come down

    espérame, ya bajo — wait for me, I'll be right down

    ¿bajas a la playa con nosotros? — are you coming (down) to the beach with us?

    bajar a + inf — to go/come down to + inf

    b) ( apearse)

    bajar de algode tren/avión to get off sth; de coche to get out of sth; de caballo/bicicleta to get off sth

    c) (Dep) equipo to go down
    2)
    a) marea to go out
    b) fiebre/tensión to go down, drop; hinchazón to go down; temperatura to fall, drop

    le ha bajado la fiebreher fever o temperature has gone down

    c) precio/valor to fall, drop; cotización to fall; calidad to deteriorate; popularidad to diminish
    d) menstruación to start
    2.
    bajar vt
    1) <escalera/cuesta> to go down
    2) <brazo/mano> to put down, lower
    3) (Inf) to download
    4)
    a)

    bajar algo (de algo)de armario/estante to get sth down (from sth); del piso de arriba to bring/take down sth

    ¿me bajas las llaves? — can you bring down my keys?

    b)

    bajar a algn de algode mesa/caballo to get sb off sth

    5)
    a) <persiana/telón> to lower; < ventanilla> to open
    b) < cremallera> to undo
    6) < precio> to lower; < fiebre> to bring down; < volumen> to turn down
    3.
    bajarse verbo pronominal
    1) ( apearse)

    bajarse de algode tren/autobús to get off sth; de coche to get out of sth; de caballo/bicicleta to get off sth

    2) < pantalones> to take down; < falda> to pull down
    * * *
    = come + downstairs, drop, go down, lower, walk down, ebb, subside, move down, come down, wind + Nombre + down, coast, freewheel, take + a tumble, turn down.
    Ex. Meanwhile the journeymen, who had just gone to bed, hearing the row quickly got up again, came downstairs and then shoved me out of the door.
    Ex. The search profile will only be modified periodically as the quality of the set of notifications output from the search drops to unacceptable levels.
    Ex. Since recall goes up as precision goes down, it is clearly not possible to achieve in general a system which gives full recall at the same time as full precision.
    Ex. When a forme was in place on the press stone, paper was lowered on to it by means of a tympan and frisket.
    Ex. Some of the questions to ask ourselves are will people walk up or down stairs, across quadrangles, etc just to visit the library?.
    Ex. Subsequently, library development stalled as cultural interaction ebbed from classical levels.
    Ex. Her agitation subsided suddenly.
    Ex. Of the 32 institutions indicating some change in status from July 1982 to January 1983, 19 moved down in status and 13 moved up.
    Ex. Costs are likely to be high but they will only come down as the system moves into the mass market.
    Ex. Not the least of the ironies of this venture is that going ahead with it is as full of hazard as winding it down abruptly.
    Ex. Pushing our bicycles up a very steep hill one sunny morning, two men on bicycles coasted down the hill and passed us.
    Ex. His vehicle freewheeled backwards down a hill and collided with another vehicle heading up the hill.
    Ex. Tourism takes a tumble in Australia due to the global credit crunch.
    Ex. Cytokines are small proteins used to communicate messages between the immune cells in the immune system to either turn up or down the immune response.
    ----
    * bajar a = head down to.
    * bajar a Alguien del pedestal = knock + Nombre + off + Posesivo + pedestal, cut + Nombre + down to size.
    * bajar de categoría = demote.
    * bajar de precio = come down in + price.
    * bajar el listón = lower + the bar.
    * bajar el nivel = lower + the bar.
    * bajar el precio = lower + price.
    * bajar la calidad = lower + standards.
    * bajar la guardia = lower + Posesivo + guard.
    * bajar la moral = lower + morale.
    * bajar la ventana = wind down + window.
    * bajar la voz = lower + Posesivo + voice.
    * bajarle la nota a Alguien = mark + Nombre + down.
    * bajarle los humos a Alguien = knock + Nombre + off + Posesivo + pedestal, cut + Nombre + down to size, take + the wind out of + Posesivo + sails.
    * bajar los precios = roll back + prices.
    * bajar mucho = go + way down.
    * bajarse de = get off.
    * bajarse de las nubes = get real.
    * bajarse del tren = get off + the train.
    * hacer bajar = force down.
    * no bajarse del burro = stick to + Posesivo + guns.
    * precio + bajar = price + fall.
    * que baja los humos = humbling.
    * subir y = move up and/or down.
    * * *
    1.
    verbo intransitivo
    1)
    a) ascensor/persona ( alejándose) to go down; ( acercándose) to come down

    espérame, ya bajo — wait for me, I'll be right down

    ¿bajas a la playa con nosotros? — are you coming (down) to the beach with us?

    bajar a + inf — to go/come down to + inf

    b) ( apearse)

    bajar de algode tren/avión to get off sth; de coche to get out of sth; de caballo/bicicleta to get off sth

    c) (Dep) equipo to go down
    2)
    a) marea to go out
    b) fiebre/tensión to go down, drop; hinchazón to go down; temperatura to fall, drop

    le ha bajado la fiebreher fever o temperature has gone down

    c) precio/valor to fall, drop; cotización to fall; calidad to deteriorate; popularidad to diminish
    d) menstruación to start
    2.
    bajar vt
    1) <escalera/cuesta> to go down
    2) <brazo/mano> to put down, lower
    3) (Inf) to download
    4)
    a)

    bajar algo (de algo)de armario/estante to get sth down (from sth); del piso de arriba to bring/take down sth

    ¿me bajas las llaves? — can you bring down my keys?

    b)

    bajar a algn de algode mesa/caballo to get sb off sth

    5)
    a) <persiana/telón> to lower; < ventanilla> to open
    b) < cremallera> to undo
    6) < precio> to lower; < fiebre> to bring down; < volumen> to turn down
    3.
    bajarse verbo pronominal
    1) ( apearse)

    bajarse de algode tren/autobús to get off sth; de coche to get out of sth; de caballo/bicicleta to get off sth

    2) < pantalones> to take down; < falda> to pull down
    * * *
    = come + downstairs, drop, go down, lower, walk down, ebb, subside, move down, come down, wind + Nombre + down, coast, freewheel, take + a tumble, turn down.

    Ex: Meanwhile the journeymen, who had just gone to bed, hearing the row quickly got up again, came downstairs and then shoved me out of the door.

    Ex: The search profile will only be modified periodically as the quality of the set of notifications output from the search drops to unacceptable levels.
    Ex: Since recall goes up as precision goes down, it is clearly not possible to achieve in general a system which gives full recall at the same time as full precision.
    Ex: When a forme was in place on the press stone, paper was lowered on to it by means of a tympan and frisket.
    Ex: Some of the questions to ask ourselves are will people walk up or down stairs, across quadrangles, etc just to visit the library?.
    Ex: Subsequently, library development stalled as cultural interaction ebbed from classical levels.
    Ex: Her agitation subsided suddenly.
    Ex: Of the 32 institutions indicating some change in status from July 1982 to January 1983, 19 moved down in status and 13 moved up.
    Ex: Costs are likely to be high but they will only come down as the system moves into the mass market.
    Ex: Not the least of the ironies of this venture is that going ahead with it is as full of hazard as winding it down abruptly.
    Ex: Pushing our bicycles up a very steep hill one sunny morning, two men on bicycles coasted down the hill and passed us.
    Ex: His vehicle freewheeled backwards down a hill and collided with another vehicle heading up the hill.
    Ex: Tourism takes a tumble in Australia due to the global credit crunch.
    Ex: Cytokines are small proteins used to communicate messages between the immune cells in the immune system to either turn up or down the immune response.
    * bajar a = head down to.
    * bajar a Alguien del pedestal = knock + Nombre + off + Posesivo + pedestal, cut + Nombre + down to size.
    * bajar de categoría = demote.
    * bajar de precio = come down in + price.
    * bajar el listón = lower + the bar.
    * bajar el nivel = lower + the bar.
    * bajar el precio = lower + price.
    * bajar la calidad = lower + standards.
    * bajar la guardia = lower + Posesivo + guard.
    * bajar la moral = lower + morale.
    * bajar la ventana = wind down + window.
    * bajar la voz = lower + Posesivo + voice.
    * bajarle la nota a Alguien = mark + Nombre + down.
    * bajarle los humos a Alguien = knock + Nombre + off + Posesivo + pedestal, cut + Nombre + down to size, take + the wind out of + Posesivo + sails.
    * bajar los precios = roll back + prices.
    * bajar mucho = go + way down.
    * bajarse de = get off.
    * bajarse de las nubes = get real.
    * bajarse del tren = get off + the train.
    * hacer bajar = force down.
    * no bajarse del burro = stick to + Posesivo + guns.
    * precio + bajar = price + fall.
    * que baja los humos = humbling.
    * subir y = move up and/or down.

    * * *
    bajar [A1 ]
    vi
    A
    1 «ascensor/persona» (alejándose) to go down; (acercándose) to come down
    yo bajo por la escalera I'll walk down o take the stairs
    espérame, ya bajo wait for me, I'll be right down
    ¿bajas a la playa? are you coming (down) to the beach?
    bajar A + INF to go/come down to + INF
    bajó a saludarnos he came down to say hello
    todavía no ha bajado a desayunar she hasn't come down for breakfast yet
    ha bajado a comprar cigarrillos he's gone down to buy some cigarettes
    2 (apearse) bajar DE algo ‹de un tren/un avión› to get off sth; ‹de un coche› to get out OF sth; ‹de un caballo/una bicicleta› to get off sth, dismount FROM sth
    me caí al bajar del autobús I fell as I was getting off the bus
    yo no bajo, me quedo en el coche I'm not getting out, I'll stay in the car
    no sabe bajar sola del caballo she can't get down off the horse o dismount on her own
    3 ( Dep) «equipo» to go down, be relegated
    4
    «río/aguas» (+ compl): el río baja crecido the river is (running) high
    B
    1 «marea» to go out
    2 «fiebre/tensión» to go down, drop, fall; «hinchazón» to go down
    han bajado mucho las temperaturas temperatures have fallen o dropped sharply
    no le ha bajado la fiebre her fever o ( BrE) temperature hasn't gone down
    3 «precio/valor» to fall, drop; «cotización» to fall
    el dólar bajó ligeramente the dollar slipped back o fell slightly
    nuestro volumen de ventas no ha bajado our turnover hasn't fallen o dropped o decreased
    los precios bajaron en un 25% prices fell by 25%
    los ordenadores están bajando de precio computers are going down in price
    ha bajado mucho la calidad del producto the quality of the product has deteriorated badly
    su popularidad ha bajado últimamente her popularity has diminished recently
    seguro que no baja de los dos millones I bet it won't be o cost less than two million
    ha bajado mucho en mi estima he's gone down o fallen a lot in my estimation
    4 «período/menstruación» (+ me/te/le etc) to start
    5
    ( Chi fam) (entrar) (+ me/te/le etc): con el vino le bajó un sueño tremendo the wine made him incredibly sleepy
    al escuchar tanta estupidez nos bajó una rabia … listening to such nonsense made us so angry …
    ■ bajar
    vt
    A ‹escalera/cuesta› to go down
    bajó la cuesta corriendo she ran down the hill
    B
    1 ‹brazo/mano› to put down, lower
    bajó la cabeza/mirada avergonzado he bowed his head/lowered o dropped his eyes in shame
    2 (de un armario, estante) to get down; (de una planta, habitación) to bring/take down
    me ayudó a bajar la maleta he helped me to get my suitcase down
    ¿me bajas las llaves? can you bring down my keys?
    hay que bajar estas botellas al sótano we have to take these bottles down to the basement
    bajar algo/a algn DE algo to get sth/sb down FROM sth
    bájame la caja del estante get the box down from the shelf (for me)
    bájalo de la mesa/del caballo get him down off the table/horse
    3 ‹persiana/telón› to lower
    ¿me bajas la cremallera? will you undo my zipper ( AmE) o ( BrE) zip for me?
    le bajó los pantalones para ponerle una inyección she took his pants ( AmE) o ( BrE) trousers down to give him an injection
    tengo que bajarle el dobladillo I have to let the hem down
    baja la ventanilla open the window
    C ‹precio› to lower; ‹fiebre› to bring down; ‹radio› to turn down
    bájale el volumen or ( Col) al volumen turn the volume down
    baja la calefacción/el gas turn the heating/the gas down
    baja la voz lower your voice
    lo bajaron de categoría it was downgraded o demoted
    D ( Inf) to download
    estoy bajando música a la computadora ( AmL) or al ordenador ( Esp) I'm downloading music to my computer
    A (apearse) bajarse DE algo ‹de un tren/un autobús› to get off sth; ‹de un coche› to get out OF sth; ‹de un caballo/una bicicleta› to get off sth, dismount FROM sth
    me bajo en la próxima I'm getting off at the next stop
    ¡bájate del muro! get down off the wall!
    B ‹pantalones› to take down, pull down; ‹falda› to pull down
    C
    1 (Arg, Col arg) (liquidar) to rub out (sl)
    2 ( Arg arg) (tener relaciones sexuales con) to score with (sl)
    * * *

     

    bajar ( conjugate bajar) verbo intransitivo
    1
    a) [ascensor/persona] ( alejándose) to go down;

    ( acercándose) to come down;
    bajar por las escaleras to go/come down the stairs;

    ya bajo I'll be right down
    b) ( apearse) bajar de algo ‹de tren/avión to get off sth;

    de coche› to get out of sth;
    de caballo/bicicleta to get off sth
    c) (Dep) [ equipo] to go down

    2

    b) [fiebre/tensión] to go down, drop;

    [ hinchazón] to go down;
    [ temperatura] to fall, drop
    c) [precio/valor] to fall, drop;

    [ calidad] to deteriorate;
    [ popularidad] to diminish;

    verbo transitivo
    1escalera/cuesta to go down
    2brazo/mano to put down, lower
    3
    a) bajar algo (de algo) ‹de armario/estante› to get sth down (from sth);

    del piso de arriba› ( traer) to bring sth down (from sth);
    ( llevar) to take sth down (to sth)
    b) bajar a algn de algo ‹de mesa/caballo to get sb off sth

    4
    a)persiana/telón to lower;

    ventanilla to open

    5 precio to lower;
    fiebre to bring down;
    volumen to turn down;
    voz to lower
    bajarse verbo pronominal
    1 ( apearse) bajarse de algo ‹de tren/autobús to get off sth;
    de coche› to get out of sth;
    de caballo/bicicleta to get off sth;
    de pared/árbol to get down off sth
    2 pantalones to take down;
    falda to pull down
    bajar
    I verbo transitivo
    1 (descender) to come o go down: bajé corriendo la cuesta, I ran downhill ➣ Ver nota en ir 2 (llevar algo abajo) to bring o get o take down: baja los disfraces del trastero, bring the costumes down from the attic
    3 (un telón) to lower
    (una persiana) to let down
    (la cabeza) to bow o lower
    4 (reducir el volumen) to turn down
    (la voz) to lower
    5 (los precios, etc) to reduce, cut
    6 (ropa, dobladillo) tengo que bajar el vestido, I've got to let the hem down
    7 Mús tienes que bajar un tono, you've got to go down a tone
    II verbo intransitivo
    1 to go o come down: bajamos al bar, we went down to the bar
    2 (apearse de un tren, un autobús) to get off
    (de un coche) to get out [de, of]: tienes que bajarte en la siguiente parada, you've got to get off at the next stop
    3 (disminuir la temperatura, los precios) to fall, drop: ha bajado su cotización en la bolsa, its share prices have dropped in the stock exchange
    ' bajar' also found in these entries:
    Spanish:
    abaratarse
    - basura
    - descender
    - guardia
    - irse
    - a
    - bandera
    - hundir
    - mirada
    - poder
    - vista
    - volumen
    English:
    boil over
    - bow
    - bring down
    - climb down
    - come down
    - decline
    - decrease
    - deflate
    - descend
    - dip
    - down
    - downgrade
    - downstairs
    - draw
    - drop
    - fall
    - force down
    - get down
    - get off
    - go below
    - go down
    - guard
    - hang
    - heave
    - inflammation
    - jump down
    - jump off
    - let down
    - let off
    - lift down
    - lower
    - mark down
    - move down
    - pull down
    - relegate
    - send down
    - slide down
    - slip
    - slip down
    - spiral down
    - steeply
    - subside
    - swoop
    - take down
    - turn down
    - walk down
    - wind down
    - bring
    - can
    - come
    * * *
    vt
    1. [poner abajo] [libro, cuadro] to take/bring down;
    [telón, persiana] to lower; [ventanilla] to wind down, to open;
    he bajado la enciclopedia de la primera a la última estantería I've moved the encyclopedia down from the top shelf to the bottom one;
    ayúdame a bajar la caja [desde lo alto] help me get the box down;
    [al piso de abajo] help me carry the box downstairs
    2. [ojos, cabeza, mano] to lower;
    bajó la cabeza con resignación she lowered o bowed her head in resignation
    3. [descender] [montaña, escaleras] to go/come down;
    bajó las escaleras a toda velocidad she ran down the stairs as fast as she could;
    bajó la calle a todo correr he ran down the street as fast as he could
    4. [reducir] [inflación, hinchazón] to reduce;
    [precios] to lower, to cut; [música, volumen, radio] to turn down; [fiebre] to bring down;
    bajar el fuego (de la cocina) to reduce the heat;
    bajar el tono to lower one's voice;
    bajar la moral a alguien to cause sb's spirits to drop;
    bajar los bríos o [m5] humos a alguien to take sb down a peg or two
    5. [hacer descender de categoría] to demote
    6. Fam Informát to download
    7. Carib Fam [pagar] to cough up, to pay up
    vi
    1. [apearse] [de coche] to get out;
    [de moto, bicicleta, tren, avión] to get off; [de caballo] to dismount; [de árbol, escalera, silla] to get/come down;
    bajar de [de coche] to get out of;
    [de moto, bicicleta, tren, avión] to get off; [de caballo] to get off, to dismount; [de árbol, escalera, silla, mesa] to get/come down from;
    es peligroso bajar de un tren en marcha it is dangerous to jump off a train while it is still moving;
    bajar a tierra [desde barco] to go on shore;
    bajo en la próxima parada I'm getting off at the next stop
    2. [descender] to go/come down;
    ¿podrías bajar aquí un momento? could you come down here a minute?;
    tenemos que bajar a sacar la basura we have to go down to put the Br rubbish o US trash out;
    bajo enseguida I'll be down in a minute;
    bajar corriendo to run down;
    bajar en ascensor to go/come down in the Br lift o US elevator;
    bajar por la escalera to go/come down the stairs;
    bajar (a) por algo to go down and get sth;
    ha bajado a comprar el periódico she's gone out o down to get the paper;
    bajar a desayunar to go/come down for breakfast;
    el río baja crecido the river is high;
    está bajando la marea the tide is going out;
    el jefe ha bajado mucho en mi estima the boss has gone down a lot in my estimation
    3. [disminuir] to fall, to drop;
    [fiebre, hinchazón] to go/come down; [cauce] to go down, to fall;
    los precios bajaron prices dropped;
    bajó la gasolina the price of Br petrol o US gasoline fell;
    el euro bajó frente a la libra the euro fell against the pound;
    bajó la Bolsa esp Br share o esp US stock prices fell;
    las acciones de C & C han bajado C & C esp Br share o esp US stock prices have fallen;
    han bajado las ventas sales are down;
    este modelo ha bajado de precio this model has gone down in price, the price of this model has gone down;
    el coste total no bajará del millón the total cost will not be less than o under a million;
    no bajará de tres horas it will take at least three hours, it won't take less than three hours
    4. Fam [ir, venir] to go/come down;
    bajaré a la capital la próxima semana I'll be going down to the capital next week;
    ¿por qué no bajas a vernos este fin de semana? why don't you come down to see us this weekend?
    5. [descender de categoría] to be demoted (a to); Dep to be relegated, to go down (a to);
    * * *
    I v/t
    1 voz, precio lower;
    bajar la mirada lower one’s eyes o gaze, look down;
    bajar algo de arriba get sth down
    2 TV, radio turn down
    3 escalera go down
    4 INFOR download
    II v/i
    1 go down
    2 de intereses fall, drop
    * * *
    bajar vt
    1) descender: to lower, to let down, to take down
    2) reducir: to reduce (prices)
    3) inclinar: to lower, to bow (the head)
    4) : to go down, to descend
    5)
    bajar de categoría : to downgrade
    bajar vi
    1) : to drop, to fall
    2) : to come down, to go down
    3) : to ebb (of tides)
    * * *
    bajar vb
    1. (ir abajo) to go down
    2. (descender) to drop [pt. & pp. dropped] / to fall [pt. fell; pp. fallen] / to go down
    3. (salir de un coche) to get out
    ¡bájate del coche! get out of the car!
    4. (salir de un tren, autobús) to get off
    5. (llevar abajo) to get down / to take down [pt. took; pp. taken]
    ¿me bajas la maleta? can you get my suitcase down?
    6. (traer abajo) to bring down [pt. & pp. brought]
    ¿me bajas el bolso? can you bring my bag down?
    7. (voz, vista) to lower
    8. (cabeza) to bow
    9. (volumen) to turn down
    baja la música, por favor turn the music down, please

    Spanish-English dictionary > bajar

  • 6 Historical Portugal

       Before Romans described western Iberia or Hispania as "Lusitania," ancient Iberians inhabited the land. Phoenician and Greek trading settlements grew up in the Tagus estuary area and nearby coasts. Beginning around 202 BCE, Romans invaded what is today southern Portugal. With Rome's defeat of Carthage, Romans proceeded to conquer and rule the western region north of the Tagus, which they named Roman "Lusitania." In the fourth century CE, as Rome's rule weakened, the area experienced yet another invasion—Germanic tribes, principally the Suevi, who eventually were Christianized. During the sixth century CE, the Suevi kingdom was superseded by yet another Germanic tribe—the Christian Visigoths.
       A major turning point in Portugal's history came in 711, as Muslim armies from North Africa, consisting of both Arab and Berber elements, invaded the Iberian Peninsula from across the Straits of Gibraltar. They entered what is now Portugal in 714, and proceeded to conquer most of the country except for the far north. For the next half a millennium, Islam and Muslim presence in Portugal left a significant mark upon the politics, government, language, and culture of the country.
       Islam, Reconquest, and Portugal Created, 714-1140
       The long frontier struggle between Muslim invaders and Christian communities in the north of the Iberian peninsula was called the Reconquista (Reconquest). It was during this struggle that the first dynasty of Portuguese kings (Burgundian) emerged and the independent monarchy of Portugal was established. Christian forces moved south from what is now the extreme north of Portugal and gradually defeated Muslim forces, besieging and capturing towns under Muslim sway. In the ninth century, as Christian forces slowly made their way southward, Christian elements were dominant only in the area between Minho province and the Douro River; this region became known as "territorium Portu-calense."
       In the 11th century, the advance of the Reconquest quickened as local Christian armies were reinforced by crusading knights from what is now France and England. Christian forces took Montemor (1034), at the Mondego River; Lamego (1058); Viseu (1058); and Coimbra (1064). In 1095, the king of Castile and Léon granted the country of "Portu-cale," what became northern Portugal, to a Burgundian count who had emigrated from France. This was the foundation of Portugal. In 1139, a descendant of this count, Afonso Henriques, proclaimed himself "King of Portugal." He was Portugal's first monarch, the "Founder," and the first of the Burgundian dynasty, which ruled until 1385.
       The emergence of Portugal in the 12th century as a separate monarchy in Iberia occurred before the Christian Reconquest of the peninsula. In the 1140s, the pope in Rome recognized Afonso Henriques as king of Portugal. In 1147, after a long, bloody siege, Muslim-occupied Lisbon fell to Afonso Henriques's army. Lisbon was the greatest prize of the 500-year war. Assisting this effort were English crusaders on their way to the Holy Land; the first bishop of Lisbon was an Englishman. When the Portuguese captured Faro and Silves in the Algarve province in 1248-50, the Reconquest of the extreme western portion of the Iberian peninsula was complete—significantly, more than two centuries before the Spanish crown completed the Reconquest of the eastern portion by capturing Granada in 1492.
       Consolidation and Independence of Burgundian Portugal, 1140-1385
       Two main themes of Portugal's early existence as a monarchy are the consolidation of control over the realm and the defeat of a Castil-ian threat from the east to its independence. At the end of this period came the birth of a new royal dynasty (Aviz), which prepared to carry the Christian Reconquest beyond continental Portugal across the straits of Gibraltar to North Africa. There was a variety of motives behind these developments. Portugal's independent existence was imperiled by threats from neighboring Iberian kingdoms to the north and east. Politics were dominated not only by efforts against the Muslims in
       Portugal (until 1250) and in nearby southern Spain (until 1492), but also by internecine warfare among the kingdoms of Castile, Léon, Aragon, and Portugal. A final comeback of Muslim forces was defeated at the battle of Salado (1340) by allied Castilian and Portuguese forces. In the emerging Kingdom of Portugal, the monarch gradually gained power over and neutralized the nobility and the Church.
       The historic and commonplace Portuguese saying "From Spain, neither a good wind nor a good marriage" was literally played out in diplomacy and war in the late 14th-century struggles for mastery in the peninsula. Larger, more populous Castile was pitted against smaller Portugal. Castile's Juan I intended to force a union between Castile and Portugal during this era of confusion and conflict. In late 1383, Portugal's King Fernando, the last king of the Burgundian dynasty, suddenly died prematurely at age 38, and the Master of Aviz, Portugal's most powerful nobleman, took up the cause of independence and resistance against Castile's invasion. The Master of Aviz, who became King João I of Portugal, was able to obtain foreign assistance. With the aid of English archers, Joao's armies defeated the Castilians in the crucial battle of Aljubarrota, on 14 August 1385, a victory that assured the independence of the Portuguese monarchy from its Castilian nemesis for several centuries.
       Aviz Dynasty and Portugal's First Overseas Empire, 1385-1580
       The results of the victory at Aljubarrota, much celebrated in Portugal's art and monuments, and the rise of the Aviz dynasty also helped to establish a new merchant class in Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal's second city. This group supported King João I's program of carrying the Reconquest to North Africa, since it was interested in expanding Portugal's foreign commerce and tapping into Muslim trade routes and resources in Africa. With the Reconquest against the Muslims completed in Portugal and the threat from Castile thwarted for the moment, the Aviz dynasty launched an era of overseas conquest, exploration, and trade. These efforts dominated Portugal's 15th and 16th centuries.
       The overseas empire and age of Discoveries began with Portugal's bold conquest in 1415 of the Moroccan city of Ceuta. One royal member of the 1415 expedition was young, 21-year-old Prince Henry, later known in history as "Prince Henry the Navigator." His part in the capture of Ceuta won Henry his knighthood and began Portugal's "Marvelous Century," during which the small kingdom was counted as a European and world power of consequence. Henry was the son of King João I and his English queen, Philippa of Lancaster, but he did not inherit the throne. Instead, he spent most of his life and his fortune, and that of the wealthy military Order of Christ, on various imperial ventures and on voyages of exploration down the African coast and into the Atlantic. While mythology has surrounded Henry's controversial role in the Discoveries, and this role has been exaggerated, there is no doubt that he played a vital part in the initiation of Portugal's first overseas empire and in encouraging exploration. He was naturally curious, had a sense of mission for Portugal, and was a strong leader. He also had wealth to expend; at least a third of the African voyages of the time were under his sponsorship. If Prince Henry himself knew little science, significant scientific advances in navigation were made in his day.
       What were Portugal's motives for this new imperial effort? The well-worn historical cliche of "God, Glory, and Gold" can only partly explain the motivation of a small kingdom with few natural resources and barely 1 million people, which was greatly outnumbered by the other powers it confronted. Among Portuguese objectives were the desire to exploit known North African trade routes and resources (gold, wheat, leather, weaponry, and other goods that were scarce in Iberia); the need to outflank the Muslim world in the Mediterranean by sailing around Africa, attacking Muslims en route; and the wish to ally with Christian kingdoms beyond Africa. This enterprise also involved a strategy of breaking the Venetian spice monopoly by trading directly with the East by means of discovering and exploiting a sea route around Africa to Asia. Besides the commercial motives, Portugal nurtured a strong crusading sense of Christian mission, and various classes in the kingdom saw an opportunity for fame and gain.
       By the time of Prince Henry's death in 1460, Portugal had gained control of the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeiras, begun to colonize the Cape Verde Islands, failed to conquer the Canary Islands from Castile, captured various cities on Morocco's coast, and explored as far as Senegal, West Africa, down the African coast. By 1488, Bar-tolomeu Dias had rounded the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and thereby discovered the way to the Indian Ocean.
       Portugal's largely coastal African empire and later its fragile Asian empire brought unexpected wealth but were purchased at a high price. Costs included wars of conquest and defense against rival powers, manning the far-flung navel and trade fleets and scattered castle-fortresses, and staffing its small but fierce armies, all of which entailed a loss of skills and population to maintain a scattered empire. Always short of capital, the monarchy became indebted to bankers. There were many defeats beginning in the 16th century at the hands of the larger imperial European monarchies (Spain, France, England, and Holland) and many attacks on Portugal and its strung-out empire. Typically, there was also the conflict that arose when a tenuously held world empire that rarely if ever paid its way demanded finance and manpower Portugal itself lacked.
       The first 80 years of the glorious imperial era, the golden age of Portugal's imperial power and world influence, was an African phase. During 1415-88, Portuguese navigators and explorers in small ships, some of them caravelas (caravels), explored the treacherous, disease-ridden coasts of Africa from Morocco to South Africa beyond the Cape of Good Hope. By the 1470s, the Portuguese had reached the Gulf of Guinea and, in the early 1480s, what is now Angola. Bartolomeu Dias's extraordinary voyage of 1487-88 to South Africa's coast and the edge of the Indian Ocean convinced Portugal that the best route to Asia's spices and Christians lay south, around the tip of southern Africa. Between 1488 and 1495, there was a hiatus caused in part by domestic conflict in Portugal, discussion of resources available for further conquests beyond Africa in Asia, and serious questions as to Portugal's capacity to reach beyond Africa. In 1495, King Manuel and his council decided to strike for Asia, whatever the consequences. In 1497-99, Vasco da Gama, under royal orders, made the epic two-year voyage that discovered the sea route to western India (Asia), outflanked Islam and Venice, and began Portugal's Asian empire. Within 50 years, Portugal had discovered and begun the exploitation of its largest colony, Brazil, and set up forts and trading posts from the Middle East (Aden and Ormuz), India (Calicut, Goa, etc.), Malacca, and Indonesia to Macau in China.
       By the 1550s, parts of its largely coastal, maritime trading post empire from Morocco to the Moluccas were under siege from various hostile forces, including Muslims, Christians, and Hindi. Although Moroccan forces expelled the Portuguese from the major coastal cities by 1550, the rival European monarchies of Castile (Spain), England, France, and later Holland began to seize portions of her undermanned, outgunned maritime empire.
       In 1580, Phillip II of Spain, whose mother was a Portuguese princess and who had a strong claim to the Portuguese throne, invaded Portugal, claimed the throne, and assumed control over the realm and, by extension, its African, Asian, and American empires. Phillip II filled the power vacuum that appeared in Portugal following the loss of most of Portugal's army and its young, headstrong King Sebastião in a disastrous war in Morocco. Sebastiao's death in battle (1578) and the lack of a natural heir to succeed him, as well as the weak leadership of the cardinal who briefly assumed control in Lisbon, led to a crisis that Spain's strong monarch exploited. As a result, Portugal lost its independence to Spain for a period of 60 years.
       Portugal under Spanish Rule, 1580-1640
       Despite the disastrous nature of Portugal's experience under Spanish rule, "The Babylonian Captivity" gave birth to modern Portuguese nationalism, its second overseas empire, and its modern alliance system with England. Although Spain allowed Portugal's weakened empire some autonomy, Spanish rule in Portugal became increasingly burdensome and unacceptable. Spain's ambitious imperial efforts in Europe and overseas had an impact on the Portuguese as Spain made greater and greater demands on its smaller neighbor for manpower and money. Portugal's culture underwent a controversial Castilianization, while its empire became hostage to Spain's fortunes. New rival powers England, France, and Holland attacked and took parts of Spain's empire and at the same time attacked Portugal's empire, as well as the mother country.
       Portugal's empire bore the consequences of being attacked by Spain's bitter enemies in what was a form of world war. Portuguese losses were heavy. By 1640, Portugal had lost most of its Moroccan cities as well as Ceylon, the Moluccas, and sections of India. With this, Portugal's Asian empire was gravely weakened. Only Goa, Damão, Diu, Bombay, Timor, and Macau remained and, in Brazil, Dutch forces occupied the northeast.
       On 1 December 1640, long commemorated as a national holiday, Portuguese rebels led by the duke of Braganza overthrew Spanish domination and took advantage of Spanish weakness following a more serious rebellion in Catalonia. Portugal regained independence from Spain, but at a price: dependence on foreign assistance to maintain its independence in the form of the renewal of the alliance with England.
       Restoration and Second Empire, 1640-1822
       Foreign affairs and empire dominated the restoration era and aftermath, and Portugal again briefly enjoyed greater European power and prestige. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance was renewed and strengthened in treaties of 1642, 1654, and 1661, and Portugal's independence from Spain was underwritten by English pledges and armed assistance. In a Luso-Spanish treaty of 1668, Spain recognized Portugal's independence. Portugal's alliance with England was a marriage of convenience and necessity between two monarchies with important religious, cultural, and social differences. In return for legal, diplomatic, and trade privileges, as well as the use during war and peace of Portugal's great Lisbon harbor and colonial ports for England's navy, England pledged to protect Portugal and its scattered empire from any attack. The previously cited 17th-century alliance treaties were renewed later in the Treaty of Windsor, signed in London in 1899. On at least 10 different occasions after 1640, and during the next two centuries, England was central in helping prevent or repel foreign invasions of its ally, Portugal.
       Portugal's second empire (1640-1822) was largely Brazil-oriented. Portuguese colonization, exploitation of wealth, and emigration focused on Portuguese America, and imperial revenues came chiefly from Brazil. Between 1670 and 1740, Portugal's royalty and nobility grew wealthier on funds derived from Brazilian gold, diamonds, sugar, tobacco, and other crops, an enterprise supported by the Atlantic slave trade and the supply of African slave labor from West Africa and Angola. Visitors today can see where much of that wealth was invested: Portugal's rich legacy of monumental architecture. Meanwhile, the African slave trade took a toll in Angola and West Africa.
       In continental Portugal, absolutist monarchy dominated politics and government, and there was a struggle for position and power between the monarchy and other institutions, such as the Church and nobility. King José I's chief minister, usually known in history as the marquis of Pombal (ruled 1750-77), sharply suppressed the nobility and the
       Church (including the Inquisition, now a weak institution) and expelled the Jesuits. Pombal also made an effort to reduce economic dependence on England, Portugal's oldest ally. But his successes did not last much beyond his disputed time in office.
       Beginning in the late 18th century, the European-wide impact of the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon placed Portugal in a vulnerable position. With the monarchy ineffectively led by an insane queen (Maria I) and her indecisive regent son (João VI), Portugal again became the focus of foreign ambition and aggression. With England unable to provide decisive assistance in time, France—with Spain's consent—invaded Portugal in 1807. As Napoleon's army under General Junot entered Lisbon meeting no resistance, Portugal's royal family fled on a British fleet to Brazil, where it remained in exile until 1821. In the meantime, Portugal's overseas empire was again under threat. There was a power vacuum as the monarch was absent, foreign armies were present, and new political notions of liberalism and constitutional monarchy were exciting various groups of citizens.
       Again England came to the rescue, this time in the form of the armies of the duke of Wellington. Three successive French invasions of Portugal were defeated and expelled, and Wellington succeeded in carrying the war against Napoleon across the Portuguese frontier into Spain. The presence of the English army, the new French-born liberal ideas, and the political vacuum combined to create revolutionary conditions. The French invasions and the peninsular wars, where Portuguese armed forces played a key role, marked the beginning of a new era in politics.
       Liberalism and Constitutional Monarchy, 1822-1910
       During 1807-22, foreign invasions, war, and civil strife over conflicting political ideas gravely damaged Portugal's commerce, economy, and novice industry. The next terrible blow was the loss of Brazil in 1822, the jewel in the imperial crown. Portugal's very independence seemed to be at risk. In vain, Portugal sought to resist Brazilian independence by force, but in 1825 it formally acknowledged Brazilian independence by treaty.
       Portugal's slow recovery from the destructive French invasions and the "war of independence" was complicated by civil strife over the form of constitutional monarchy that best suited Portugal. After struggles over these issues between 1820 and 1834, Portugal settled somewhat uncertainly into a moderate constitutional monarchy whose constitution (Charter of 1826) lent it strong political powers to exert a moderating influence between the executive and legislative branches of the government. It also featured a new upper middle class based on land ownership and commerce; a Catholic Church that, although still important, lived with reduced privileges and property; a largely African (third) empire to which Lisbon and Oporto devoted increasing spiritual and material resources, starting with the liberal imperial plans of 1836 and 1851, and continuing with the work of institutions like the Lisbon Society of Geography (established 1875); and a mass of rural peasants whose bonds to the land weakened after 1850 and who began to immigrate in increasing numbers to Brazil and North America.
       Chronic military intervention in national politics began in 19th-century Portugal. Such intervention, usually commencing with coups or pronunciamentos (military revolts), was a shortcut to the spoils of political office and could reflect popular discontent as well as the power of personalities. An early example of this was the 1817 golpe (coup) attempt of General Gomes Freire against British military rule in Portugal before the return of King João VI from Brazil. Except for a more stable period from 1851 to 1880, military intervention in politics, or the threat thereof, became a feature of the constitutional monarchy's political life, and it continued into the First Republic and the subsequent Estado Novo.
       Beginning with the Regeneration period (1851-80), Portugal experienced greater political stability and economic progress. Military intervention in politics virtually ceased; industrialization and construction of railroads, roads, and bridges proceeded; two political parties (Regenerators and Historicals) worked out a system of rotation in power; and leading intellectuals sparked a cultural revival in several fields. In 19th-century literature, there was a new golden age led by such figures as Alexandre Herculano (historian), Eça de Queirós (novelist), Almeida Garrett (playwright and essayist), Antero de Quental (poet), and Joaquim Oliveira Martins (historian and social scientist). In its third overseas empire, Portugal attempted to replace the slave trade and slavery with legitimate economic activities; to reform the administration; and to expand Portuguese holdings beyond coastal footholds deep into the African hinterlands in West, West Central, and East Africa. After 1841, to some extent, and especially after 1870, colonial affairs, combined with intense nationalism, pressures for economic profit in Africa, sentiment for national revival, and the drift of European affairs would make or break Lisbon governments.
       Beginning with the political crisis that arose out of the "English Ultimatum" affair of January 1890, the monarchy became discredtted and identified with the poorly functioning government, political parties splintered, and republicanism found more supporters. Portugal participated in the "Scramble for Africa," expanding its African holdings, but failed to annex territory connecting Angola and Mozambique. A growing foreign debt and state bankruptcy as of the early 1890s damaged the constitutional monarchy's reputation, despite the efforts of King Carlos in diplomacy, the renewal of the alliance in the Windsor Treaty of 1899, and the successful if bloody colonial wars in the empire (1880-97). Republicanism proclaimed that Portugal's weak economy and poor society were due to two historic institutions: the monarchy and the Catholic Church. A republic, its stalwarts claimed, would bring greater individual liberty; efficient, if more decentralized government; and a stronger colonial program while stripping the Church of its role in both society and education.
       As the monarchy lost support and republicans became more aggressive, violence increased in politics. King Carlos I and his heir Luís were murdered in Lisbon by anarchist-republicans on 1 February 1908. Following a military and civil insurrection and fighting between monarchist and republican forces, on 5 October 1910, King Manuel II fled Portugal and a republic was proclaimed.
       First Parliamentary Republic, 1910-26
       Portugal's first attempt at republican government was the most unstable, turbulent parliamentary republic in the history of 20th-century Western Europe. During a little under 16 years of the republic, there were 45 governments, a number of legislatures that did not complete normal terms, military coups, and only one president who completed his four-year term in office. Portuguese society was poorly prepared for this political experiment. Among the deadly legacies of the monarchy were a huge public debt; a largely rural, apolitical, and illiterate peasant population; conflict over the causes of the country's misfortunes; and lack of experience with a pluralist, democratic system.
       The republic had some talented leadership but lacked popular, institutional, and economic support. The 1911 republican constitution established only a limited democracy, as only a small portion of the adult male citizenry was eligible to vote. In a country where the majority was Catholic, the republic passed harshly anticlerical laws, and its institutions and supporters persecuted both the Church and its adherents. During its brief disjointed life, the First Republic drafted important reform plans in economic, social, and educational affairs; actively promoted development in the empire; and pursued a liberal, generous foreign policy. Following British requests for Portugal's assistance in World War I, Portugal entered the war on the Allied side in March 1916 and sent armies to Flanders and Portuguese Africa. Portugal's intervention in that conflict, however, was too costly in many respects, and the ultimate failure of the republic in part may be ascribed to Portugal's World War I activities.
       Unfortunately for the republic, its time coincided with new threats to Portugal's African possessions: World War I, social and political demands from various classes that could not be reconciled, excessive military intervention in politics, and, in particular, the worst economic and financial crisis Portugal had experienced since the 16th and 17th centuries. After the original Portuguese Republican Party (PRP, also known as the "Democrats") splintered into three warring groups in 1912, no true multiparty system emerged. The Democrats, except for only one or two elections, held an iron monopoly of electoral power, and political corruption became a major issue. As extreme right-wing dictatorships elsewhere in Europe began to take power in Italy (1922), neighboring Spain (1923), and Greece (1925), what scant popular support remained for the republic collapsed. Backed by a right-wing coalition of landowners from Alentejo, clergy, Coimbra University faculty and students, Catholic organizations, and big business, career military officers led by General Gomes da Costa executed a coup on 28 May 1926, turned out the last republican government, and established a military government.
       The Estado Novo (New State), 1926-74
       During the military phase (1926-32) of the Estado Novo, professional military officers, largely from the army, governed and administered Portugal and held key cabinet posts, but soon discovered that the military possessed no magic formula that could readily solve the problems inherited from the First Republic. Especially during the years 1926-31, the military dictatorship, even with its political repression of republican activities and institutions (military censorship of the press, political police action, and closure of the republic's rowdy parliament), was characterized by similar weaknesses: personalism and factionalism; military coups and political instability, including civil strife and loss of life; state debt and bankruptcy; and a weak economy. "Barracks parliamentarism" was not an acceptable alternative even to the "Nightmare Republic."
       Led by General Óscar Carmona, who had replaced and sent into exile General Gomes da Costa, the military dictatorship turned to a civilian expert in finance and economics to break the budget impasse and bring coherence to the disorganized system. Appointed minister of finance on 27 April 1928, the Coimbra University Law School professor of economics Antônio de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970) first reformed finance, helped balance the budget, and then turned to other concerns as he garnered extraordinary governing powers. In 1930, he was appointed interim head of another key ministry (Colonies) and within a few years had become, in effect, a civilian dictator who, with the military hierarchy's support, provided the government with coherence, a program, and a set of policies.
       For nearly 40 years after he was appointed the first civilian prime minister in 1932, Salazar's personality dominated the government. Unlike extreme right-wing dictators elsewhere in Europe, Salazar was directly appointed by the army but was never endorsed by a popular political party, street militia, or voter base. The scholarly, reclusive former Coimbra University professor built up what became known after 1932 as the Estado Novo ("New State"), which at the time of its overthrow by another military coup in 1974, was the longest surviving authoritarian regime in Western Europe. The system of Salazar and the largely academic and technocratic ruling group he gathered in his cabinets was based on the central bureaucracy of the state, which was supported by the president of the republic—always a senior career military officer, General Óscar Carmona (1928-51), General Craveiro Lopes (1951-58), and Admiral Américo Tómaz (1958-74)—and the complicity of various institutions. These included a rubber-stamp legislature called the National Assembly (1935-74) and a political police known under various names: PVDE (1932-45), PIDE (1945-69),
       and DGS (1969-74). Other defenders of the Estado Novo security were paramilitary organizations such as the National Republican Guard (GNR); the Portuguese Legion (PL); and the Portuguese Youth [Movement]. In addition to censorship of the media, theater, and books, there was political repression and a deliberate policy of depoliticization. All political parties except for the approved movement of regime loyalists, the União Nacional or (National Union), were banned.
       The most vigorous and more popular period of the New State was 1932-44, when the basic structures were established. Never monolithic or entirely the work of one person (Salazar), the New State was constructed with the assistance of several dozen top associates who were mainly academics from law schools, some technocrats with specialized skills, and a handful of trusted career military officers. The 1933 Constitution declared Portugal to be a "unitary, corporative Republic," and pressures to restore the monarchy were resisted. Although some of the regime's followers were fascists and pseudofascists, many more were conservative Catholics, integralists, nationalists, and monarchists of different varieties, and even some reactionary republicans. If the New State was authoritarian, it was not totalitarian and, unlike fascism in Benito Mussolini's Italy or Adolf Hitler's Germany, it usually employed the minimum of violence necessary to defeat what remained a largely fractious, incoherent opposition.
       With the tumultuous Second Republic and the subsequent civil war in nearby Spain, the regime felt threatened and reinforced its defenses. During what Salazar rightly perceived as a time of foreign policy crisis for Portugal (1936-45), he assumed control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From there, he pursued four basic foreign policy objectives: supporting the Nationalist rebels of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and concluding defense treaties with a triumphant Franco; ensuring that General Franco in an exhausted Spain did not enter World War II on the Axis side; maintaining Portuguese neutrality in World War II with a post-1942 tilt toward the Allies, including granting Britain and the United States use of bases in the Azores Islands; and preserving and protecting Portugal's Atlantic Islands and its extensive, if poor, overseas empire in Africa and Asia.
       During the middle years of the New State (1944-58), many key Salazar associates in government either died or resigned, and there was greater social unrest in the form of unprecedented strikes and clandestine Communist activities, intensified opposition, and new threatening international pressures on Portugal's overseas empire. During the earlier phase of the Cold War (1947-60), Portugal became a steadfast, if weak, member of the US-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance and, in 1955, with American support, Portugal joined the United Nations (UN). Colonial affairs remained a central concern of the regime. As of 1939, Portugal was the third largest colonial power in the world and possessed territories in tropical Africa (Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe Islands) and the remnants of its 16th-century empire in Asia (Goa, Damão, Diu, East Timor, and Macau). Beginning in the early 1950s, following the independence of India in 1947, Portugal resisted Indian pressures to decolonize Portuguese India and used police forces to discourage internal opposition in its Asian and African colonies.
       The later years of the New State (1958-68) witnessed the aging of the increasingly isolated but feared Salazar and new threats both at home and overseas. Although the regime easily overcame the brief oppositionist threat from rival presidential candidate General Humberto Delgado in the spring of 1958, new developments in the African and Asian empires imperiled the authoritarian system. In February 1961, oppositionists hijacked the Portuguese ocean liner Santa Maria and, in following weeks, African insurgents in northern Angola, although they failed to expel the Portuguese, gained worldwide media attention, discredited the New State, and began the 13-year colonial war. After thwarting a dissident military coup against his continued leadership, Salazar and his ruling group mobilized military repression in Angola and attempted to develop the African colonies at a faster pace in order to ensure Portuguese control. Meanwhile, the other European colonial powers (Britain, France, Belgium, and Spain) rapidly granted political independence to their African territories.
       At the time of Salazar's removal from power in September 1968, following a stroke, Portugal's efforts to maintain control over its colonies appeared to be successful. President Americo Tomás appointed Dr. Marcello Caetano as Salazar's successor as prime minister. While maintaining the New State's basic structures, and continuing the regime's essential colonial policy, Caetano attempted wider reforms in colonial administration and some devolution of power from Lisbon, as well as more freedom of expression in Lisbon. Still, a great deal of the budget was devoted to supporting the wars against the insurgencies in Africa. Meanwhile in Asia, Portuguese India had fallen when the Indian army invaded in December 1961. The loss of Goa was a psychological blow to the leadership of the New State, and of the Asian empire only East Timor and Macau remained.
       The Caetano years (1968-74) were but a hiatus between the waning Salazar era and a new regime. There was greater political freedom and rapid economic growth (5-6 percent annually to late 1973), but Caetano's government was unable to reform the old system thoroughly and refused to consider new methods either at home or in the empire. In the end, regime change came from junior officers of the professional military who organized the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) against the Caetano government. It was this group of several hundred officers, mainly in the army and navy, which engineered a largely bloodless coup in Lisbon on 25 April 1974. Their unexpected action brought down the 48-year-old New State and made possible the eventual establishment and consolidation of democratic governance in Portugal, as well as a reorientation of the country away from the Atlantic toward Europe.
       Revolution of Carnations, 1974-76
       Following successful military operations of the Armed Forces Movement against the Caetano government, Portugal experienced what became known as the "Revolution of Carnations." It so happened that during the rainy week of the military golpe, Lisbon flower shops were featuring carnations, and the revolutionaries and their supporters adopted the red carnation as the common symbol of the event, as well as of the new freedom from dictatorship. The MFA, whose leaders at first were mostly little-known majors and captains, proclaimed a three-fold program of change for the new Portugal: democracy; decolonization of the overseas empire, after ending the colonial wars; and developing a backward economy in the spirit of opportunity and equality. During the first 24 months after the coup, there was civil strife, some anarchy, and a power struggle. With the passing of the Estado Novo, public euphoria burst forth as the new provisional military government proclaimed the freedoms of speech, press, and assembly, and abolished censorship, the political police, the Portuguese Legion, Portuguese Youth, and other New State organizations, including the National Union. Scores of political parties were born and joined the senior political party, the Portuguese Community Party (PCP), and the Socialist Party (PS), founded shortly before the coup.
       Portugal's Revolution of Carnations went through several phases. There was an attempt to take control by radical leftists, including the PCP and its allies. This was thwarted by moderate officers in the army, as well as by the efforts of two political parties: the PS and the Social Democrats (PPD, later PSD). The first phase was from April to September 1974. Provisional president General Antonio Spínola, whose 1974 book Portugal and the Future had helped prepare public opinion for the coup, met irresistible leftist pressures. After Spinola's efforts to avoid rapid decolonization of the African empire failed, he resigned in September 1974. During the second phase, from September 1974 to March 1975, radical military officers gained control, but a coup attempt by General Spínola and his supporters in Lisbon in March 1975 failed and Spínola fled to Spain.
       In the third phase of the Revolution, March-November 1975, a strong leftist reaction followed. Farm workers occupied and "nationalized" 1.1 million hectares of farmland in the Alentejo province, and radical military officers in the provisional government ordered the nationalization of Portuguese banks (foreign banks were exempted), utilities, and major industries, or about 60 percent of the economic system. There were power struggles among various political parties — a total of 50 emerged—and in the streets there was civil strife among labor, military, and law enforcement groups. A constituent assembly, elected on 25 April 1975, in Portugal's first free elections since 1926, drafted a democratic constitution. The Council of the Revolution (CR), briefly a revolutionary military watchdog committee, was entrenched as part of the government under the constitution, until a later revision. During the chaotic year of 1975, about 30 persons were killed in political frays while unstable provisional governments came and went. On 25 November 1975, moderate military forces led by Colonel Ramalho Eanes, who later was twice elected president of the republic (1976 and 1981), defeated radical, leftist military groups' revolutionary conspiracies.
       In the meantime, Portugal's scattered overseas empire experienced a precipitous and unprepared decolonization. One by one, the former colonies were granted and accepted independence—Guinea-Bissau (September 1974), Cape Verde Islands (July 1975), and Mozambique (July 1975). Portugal offered to turn over Macau to the People's Republic of China, but the offer was refused then and later negotiations led to the establishment of a formal decolonization or hand-over date of 1999. But in two former colonies, the process of decolonization had tragic results.
       In Angola, decolonization negotiations were greatly complicated by the fact that there were three rival nationalist movements in a struggle for power. The January 1975 Alvor Agreement signed by Portugal and these three parties was not effectively implemented. A bloody civil war broke out in Angola in the spring of 1975 and, when Portuguese armed forces withdrew and declared that Angola was independent on 11 November 1975, the bloodshed only increased. Meanwhile, most of the white Portuguese settlers from Angola and Mozambique fled during the course of 1975. Together with African refugees, more than 600,000 of these retornados ("returned ones") went by ship and air to Portugal and thousands more to Namibia, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.
       The second major decolonization disaster was in Portugal's colony of East Timor in the Indonesian archipelago. Portugal's capacity to supervise and control a peaceful transition to independence in this isolated, neglected colony was limited by the strength of giant Indonesia, distance from Lisbon, and Portugal's revolutionary disorder and inability to defend Timor. In early December 1975, before Portugal granted formal independence and as one party, FRETILIN, unilaterally declared East Timor's independence, Indonesia's armed forces invaded, conquered, and annexed East Timor. Indonesian occupation encountered East Timorese resistance, and a heavy loss of life followed. The East Timor question remained a contentious international issue in the UN, as well as in Lisbon and Jakarta, for more than 20 years following Indonesia's invasion and annexation of the former colony of Portugal. Major changes occurred, beginning in 1998, after Indonesia underwent a political revolution and allowed a referendum in East Timor to decide that territory's political future in August 1999. Most East Timorese chose independence, but Indonesian forces resisted that verdict until
       UN intervention in September 1999. Following UN rule for several years, East Timor attained full independence on 20 May 2002.
       Consolidation of Democracy, 1976-2000
       After several free elections and record voter turnouts between 25 April 1975 and June 1976, civil war was averted and Portugal's second democratic republic began to stabilize. The MFA was dissolved, the military were returned to the barracks, and increasingly elected civilians took over the government of the country. The 1976 Constitution was revised several times beginning in 1982 and 1989, in order to reempha-size the principle of free enterprise in the economy while much of the large, nationalized sector was privatized. In June 1976, General Ram-alho Eanes was elected the first constitutional president of the republic (five-year term), and he appointed socialist leader Dr. Mário Soares as prime minister of the first constitutional government.
       From 1976 to 1985, Portugal's new system featured a weak economy and finances, labor unrest, and administrative and political instability. The difficult consolidation of democratic governance was eased in part by the strong currency and gold reserves inherited from the Estado Novo, but Lisbon seemed unable to cope with high unemployment, new debt, the complex impact of the refugees from Africa, world recession, and the agitation of political parties. Four major parties emerged from the maelstrom of 1974-75, except for the Communist Party, all newly founded. They were, from left to right, the Communists (PCP); the Socialists (PS), who managed to dominate governments and the legislature but not win a majority in the Assembly of the Republic; the Social Democrats (PSD); and the Christian Democrats (CDS). During this period, the annual growth rate was low (l-2 percent), and the nationalized sector of the economy stagnated.
       Enhanced economic growth, greater political stability, and more effective central government as of 1985, and especially 1987, were due to several developments. In 1977, Portugal applied for membership in the European Economic Community (EEC), now the European Union (EU) since 1993. In January 1986, with Spain, Portugal was granted membership, and economic and financial progress in the intervening years has been significantly influenced by the comparatively large investment, loans, technology, advice, and other assistance from the EEC. Low unemployment, high annual growth rates (5 percent), and moderate inflation have also been induced by the new political and administrative stability in Lisbon. Led by Prime Minister Cavaco Silva, an economist who was trained abroad, the PSD's strong organization, management, and electoral support since 1985 have assisted in encouraging economic recovery and development. In 1985, the PSD turned the PS out of office and won the general election, although they did not have an absolute majority of assembly seats. In 1986, Mário Soares was elected president of the republic, the first civilian to hold that office since the First Republic. In the elections of 1987 and 1991, however, the PSD was returned to power with clear majorities of over 50 percent of the vote.
       Although the PSD received 50.4 percent of the vote in the 1991 parliamentary elections and held a 42-seat majority in the Assembly of the Republic, the party began to lose public support following media revelations regarding corruption and complaints about Prime Minister Cavaco Silva's perceived arrogant leadership style. President Mário Soares voiced criticism of the PSD's seemingly untouchable majority and described a "tyranny of the majority." Economic growth slowed down. In the parliamentary elections of 1995 and the presidential election of 1996, the PSD's dominance ended for the time being. Prime Minister Antônio Guterres came to office when the PS won the October 1995 elections, and in the subsequent presidential contest, in January 1996, socialist Jorge Sampaio, the former mayor of Lisbon, was elected president of the republic, thus defeating Cavaco Silva's bid. Young and popular, Guterres moved the PS toward the center of the political spectrum. Under Guterres, the PS won the October 1999 parliamentary elections. The PS defeated the PSD but did not manage to win a clear, working majority of seats, and this made the PS dependent upon alliances with smaller parties, including the PCP.
       In the local elections in December 2001, the PSD's criticism of PS's heavy public spending allowed the PSD to take control of the key cities of Lisbon, Oporto, and Coimbra. Guterres resigned, and parliamentary elections were brought forward from 2004 to March 2002. The PSD won a narrow victory with 40 percent of the votes, and Jose Durão Barroso became prime minister. Having failed to win a majority of the seats in parliament forced the PSD to govern in coalition with the right-wing Popular Party (PP) led by Paulo Portas. Durão Barroso set about reducing government spending by cutting the budgets of local authorities, freezing civil service hiring, and reviving the economy by accelerating privatization of state-owned enterprises. These measures provoked a 24-hour strike by public-sector workers. Durão Barroso reacted with vows to press ahead with budget-cutting measures and imposed a wage freeze on all employees earning more than €1,000, which affected more than one-half of Portugal's work force.
       In June 2004, Durão Barroso was invited by Romano Prodi to succeed him as president of the European Commission. Durão Barroso accepted and resigned the prime ministership in July. Pedro Santana Lopes, the leader of the PSD, became prime minister. Already unpopular at the time of Durão Barroso's resignation, the PSD-led government became increasingly unpopular under Santana Lopes. A month-long delay in the start of the school year and confusion over his plan to cut taxes and raise public-sector salaries, eroded confidence even more. By November, Santana Lopes's government was so unpopular that President Jorge Sampaio was obliged to dissolve parliament and hold new elections, two years ahead of schedule.
       Parliamentary elections were held on 20 February 2005. The PS, which had promised the electorate disciplined and transparent governance, educational reform, the alleviation of poverty, and a boost in employment, won 45 percent of the vote and the majority of the seats in parliament. The leader of the PS, José Sôcrates became prime minister on 12 March 2005. In the regularly scheduled presidential elections held on 6 January 2006, the former leader of the PSD and prime minister, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, won a narrow victory and became president on 9 March 2006. With a mass protest, public teachers' strike, and street demonstrations in March 2008, Portugal's media, educational, and social systems experienced more severe pressures. With the spreading global recession beginning in September 2008, Portugal's economic and financial systems became more troubled.
       Owing to its geographic location on the southwestern most edge of continental Europe, Portugal has been historically in but not of Europe. Almost from the beginning of its existence in the 12th century as an independent monarchy, Portugal turned its back on Europe and oriented itself toward the Atlantic Ocean. After carving out a Christian kingdom on the western portion of the Iberian peninsula, Portuguese kings gradually built and maintained a vast seaborne global empire that became central to the way Portugal understood its individuality as a nation-state. While the creation of this empire allows Portugal to claim an unusual number of "firsts" or distinctions in world and Western history, it also retarded Portugal's economic, social, and political development. It can be reasonably argued that the Revolution of 25 April 1974 was the most decisive event in Portugal's long history because it finally ended Portugal's oceanic mission and view of itself as an imperial power. After the 1974 Revolution, Portugal turned away from its global mission and vigorously reoriented itself toward Europe. Contemporary Portugal is now both in and of Europe.
       The turn toward Europe began immediately after 25 April 1974. Portugal granted independence to its African colonies in 1975. It was admitted to the European Council and took the first steps toward accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1976. On 28 March 1977, the Portuguese government officially applied for EEC membership. Because of Portugal's economic and social backwardness, which would require vast sums of EEC money to overcome, negotiations for membership were long and difficult. Finally, a treaty of accession was signed on 12 June 1985. Portugal officially joined the EEC (the European Union [EU] since 1993) on 1 January 1986. Since becoming a full-fledged member of the EU, Portugal has been steadily overcoming the economic and social underdevelopment caused by its imperial past and is becoming more like the rest of Europe.
       Membership in the EU has speeded up the structural transformation of Portugal's economy, which actually began during the Estado Novo. Investments made by the Estado Novo in Portugal's economy began to shift employment out of the agricultural sector, which, in 1950, accounted for 50 percent of Portugal's economically active population. Today, only 10 percent of the economically active population is employed in the agricultural sector (the highest among EU member states); 30 percent in the industrial sector (also the highest among EU member states); and 60 percent in the service sector (the lowest among EU member states). The economically active population numbers about 5,000,000 employed, 56 percent of whom are women. Women workers are the majority of the workforce in the agricultural and service sectors (the highest among the EU member states). The expansion of the service sector has been primarily in health care and education. Portugal has had the lowest unemployment rates among EU member states, with the overall rate never being more than 10 percent of the active population. Since joining the EU, the number of employers increased from 2.6 percent to 5.8 percent of the active population; self-employed from 16 to 19 percent; and employees from 65 to 70 percent. Twenty-six percent of the employers are women. Unemployment tends to hit younger workers in industry and transportation, women employed in domestic service, workers on short-term contracts, and poorly educated workers. Salaried workers earn only 63 percent of the EU average, and hourly workers only one-third to one-half of that earned by their EU counterparts. Despite having had the second highest growth of gross national product (GNP) per inhabitant (after Ireland) among EU member states, the above data suggest that while much has been accomplished in terms of modernizing the Portuguese economy, much remains to be done to bring Portugal's economy up to the level of the "average" EU member state.
       Membership in the EU has also speeded up changes in Portuguese society. Over the last 30 years, coastalization and urbanization have intensified. Fully 50 percent of Portuguese live in the coastal urban conurbations of Lisbon, Oporto, Braga, Aveiro, Coimbra, Viseu, Évora, and Faro. The Portuguese population is one of the oldest among EU member states (17.3 percent are 65 years of age or older) thanks to a considerable increase in life expectancy at birth (77.87 years for the total population, 74.6 years for men, 81.36 years for women) and one of the lowest birthrates (10.59 births/1,000) in Europe. Family size averages 2.8 persons per household, with the strict nuclear family (one or two generations) in which both parents work being typical. Common law marriages, cohabitating couples, and single-parent households are more and more common. The divorce rate has also increased. "Youth Culture" has developed. The young have their own meeting places, leisure-time activities, and nightlife (bars, clubs, and discos).
       All Portuguese citizens, whether they have contributed or not, have a right to an old-age pension, invalidity benefits, widowed persons' pension, as well as payments for disabilities, children, unemployment, and large families. There is a national minimum wage (€385 per month), which is low by EU standards. The rapid aging of Portugal's population has changed the ratio of contributors to pensioners to 1.7, the lowest in the EU. This has created deficits in Portugal's social security fund.
       The adult literacy rate is about 92 percent. Illiteracy is still found among the elderly. Although universal compulsory education up to grade 9 was achieved in 1980, only 21.2 percent of the population aged 25-64 had undergone secondary education, compared to an EU average of 65.7 percent. Portugal's higher education system currently consists of 14 state universities and 14 private universities, 15 state polytechnic institutions, one Catholic university, and one military academy. All in all, Portugal spends a greater percentage of its state budget on education than most EU member states. Despite this high level of expenditure, the troubled Portuguese education system does not perform well. Early leaving and repetition rates are among the highest among EU member states.
       After the Revolution of 25 April 1974, Portugal created a National Health Service, which today consists of 221 hospitals and 512 medical centers employing 33,751 doctors and 41,799 nurses. Like its education system, Portugal's medical system is inefficient. There are long waiting lists for appointments with specialists and for surgical procedures.
       Structural changes in Portugal's economy and society mean that social life in Portugal is not too different from that in other EU member states. A mass consumption society has been created. Televisions, telephones, refrigerators, cars, music equipment, mobile phones, and personal computers are commonplace. Sixty percent of Portuguese households possess at least one automobile, and 65 percent of Portuguese own their own home. Portuguese citizens are more aware of their legal rights than ever before. This has resulted in a trebling of the number of legal proceeding since 1960 and an eight-fold increase in the number of lawyers. In general, Portuguese society has become more permissive and secular; the Catholic Church and the armed forces are much less influential than in the past. Portugal's population is also much more culturally, religiously, and ethnically diverse, a consequence of the coming to Portugal of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, mainly from former African colonies.
       Portuguese are becoming more cosmopolitan and sophisticated through the impact of world media, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. A prime case in point came in the summer and early fall of 1999, with the extraordinary events in East Timor and the massive Portuguese popular responses. An internationally monitored referendum in East Timor, Portugal's former colony in the Indonesian archipelago and under Indonesian occupation from late 1975 to summer 1999, resulted in a vote of 78.5 percent for rejecting integration with Indonesia and for independence. When Indonesian prointegration gangs, aided by the Indonesian military, responded to the referendum with widespread brutality and threatened to reverse the verdict of the referendum, there was a spontaneous popular outpouring of protest in the cities and towns of Portugal. An avalanche of Portuguese e-mail fell on leaders and groups in the UN and in certain countries around the world as Portugal's diplomats, perhaps to compensate for the weak initial response to Indonesian armed aggression in 1975, called for the protection of East Timor as an independent state and for UN intervention to thwart Indonesian action. Using global communications networks, the Portuguese were able to mobilize UN and world public opinion against Indonesian actions and aided the eventual independence of East Timor on 20 May 2002.
       From the Revolution of 25 April 1974 until the 1990s, Portugal had a large number of political parties, one of the largest Communist parties in western Europe, frequent elections, and endemic cabinet instability. Since the 1990s, the number of political parties has been dramatically reduced and cabinet stability increased. Gradually, the Portuguese electorate has concentrated around two larger parties, the right-of-center Social Democrats (PSD) and the left-of-center Socialist (PS). In the 1980s, these two parties together garnered 65 percent of the vote and 70 percent of the seats in parliament. In 2005, these percentages had risen to 74 percent and 85 percent, respectively. In effect, Portugal is currently a two-party dominant system in which the two largest parties — PS and PSD—alternate in and out of power, not unlike the rotation of the two main political parties (the Regenerators and the Historicals) during the last decades (1850s to 1880s) of the liberal constitutional monarchy. As Portugal's democracy has consolidated, turnout rates for the eligible electorate have declined. In the 1970s, turnout was 85 percent. In Portugal's most recent parliamentary election (2005), turnout had fallen to 65 percent of the eligible electorate.
       Portugal has benefited greatly from membership in the EU, and whatever doubts remain about the price paid for membership, no Portuguese government in the near future can afford to sever this connection. The vast majority of Portuguese citizens see membership in the EU as a "good thing" and strongly believe that Portugal has benefited from membership. Only the Communist Party opposed membership because it reduces national sovereignty, serves the interests of capitalists not workers, and suffers from a democratic deficit. Despite the high level of support for the EU, Portuguese voters are increasingly not voting in elections for the European Parliament, however. Turnout for European Parliament elections fell from 40 percent of the eligible electorate in the 1999 elections to 38 percent in the 2004 elections.
       In sum, Portugal's turn toward Europe has done much to overcome its backwardness. However, despite the economic, social, and political progress made since 1986, Portugal has a long way to go before it can claim to be on a par with the level found even in Spain, much less the rest of western Europe. As Portugal struggles to move from underde-velopment, especially in the rural areas away from the coast, it must keep in mind the perils of too rapid modern development, which could damage two of its most precious assets: its scenery and environment. The growth and future prosperity of the economy will depend on the degree to which the government and the private sector will remain stewards of clean air, soil, water, and other finite resources on which the tourism industry depends and on which Portugal's world image as a unique place to visit rests. Currently, Portugal is investing heavily in renewable energy from solar, wind, and wave power in order to account for about 50 percent of its electricity needs by 2010. Portugal opened the world's largest solar power plant and the world's first commercial wave power farm in 2006.
       An American documentary film on Portugal produced in the 1970s described this little country as having "a Past in Search of a Future." In the years after the Revolution of 25 April 1974, it could be said that Portugal is now living in "a Present in Search of a Future." Increasingly, that future lies in Europe as an active and productive member of the EU.

    Historical dictionary of Portugal > Historical Portugal

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