nounnounadjective

el muerto

dead

Persona o ser vivo que ya no tiene vida ni movimiento.

Definition & meaning

The word muerto has three primary functions in the Spanish language:

Adjective: It describes a living being that has ceased to live. It can also describe inanimate objects that are no longer functional or active, such as a "teléfono muerto" (dead phone) or a "calle muerta" (dead/empty street).
Noun: It refers to a deceased person or a corpse. In this context, it is often used with articles, such as "el muerto" (the dead man).
Past Participle: It is the irregular past participle of the verb morir, meaning "died." It is used to form compound tenses, such as "ha muerto" (he/she has died).

Colloquially, it is frequently used to express extreme tiredness (estoy muerto) or to describe something that is very boring or lacking in life.

Grammar & Word origin

Grammatically, muerto is notable because it is an irregular past participle. While most verbs ending in "-ir" take the ending "-ido," the verb morir changes to muerto. When used as an adjective or noun, it must agree in gender and number with the subject:

Muerto (masculine singular)
Muerta (feminine singular)
Muertos (masculine plural)
Muertas (feminine plural)

The word originates from the Latin mortuus, which is the past participle of the verb mori (to die). This root is shared with many English words such as "mortal," "mortuary," and "morbid."

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms

fallecido: A more formal way to say deceased.
difunto: Often used to refer to "the late" person in a respectful or legal context.
cadáver: Refers specifically to the physical body after death.
occiso: Used primarily in legal or journalistic contexts to refer to a person who died violently.
finado: A formal or poetic synonym for a deceased person.