Spanish Word of the Day: Emoción (emotion)

I once heard someone describe Spanish as a beautiful language because it’s filled with emoción. While I can’t say for sure if that’s true, it did get me thinking about the word itself. Emoción comes from the Latin emotio, which is derived from emovere (where e- means “out” and movere means “to move”). This idea of movement is key to the meaning of the word, as emotions are often seen as powerful inner forces that drive us to act, reflect, or change.

Emoción is a feminine noun, so it uses the following feminine definite and indefinite articles:

• la emoción = the emotion
• las emociones = the emotions
• una emoción = an emotion
• unas emociones = some emotions

Nowadays, emoción refers to a strong feeling or reaction to stimuli, and it can encompass a range of sentiments, from felicidad (happiness) and miedo (fear) to tristeza (sadness), and emoción (excitement). That’s right, emoción can be used to mean excitement, and it refers to a strong feeling of enthusiasm or anticipation about something. In this context, emoción captures the energy and eagerness a person feels in response to a positive or thrilling event.

The adjective form is emocionante, which means exciting or thrilling in English. The word comes from the noun emoción (emotion), and adding the suffix—ante indicates that something causes or produces emotion. Emocionante, like many Spanish adjectives, does not change according to gender but does agree with the noun in number. For plural nouns, it becomes emocionantes.

In English, excitement and emotion are sometimes used interchangeably depending on the context, but in Spanish, emoción frequently captures the broader spectrum of feelings, here are some common emociones:

Positive Emotions:

• Felicidad = Happiness
• Alegría = Joy
• Amor = Love
• Entusiasmo = Enthusiasm
• Esperanza = Hope
• Satisfacción = Satisfaction
• Gratitud = Gratitude
• Orgullo = Pride
• Paz = Peace
• Emoción = Excitement

Negative Emotions:

• Tristeza = Sadness
• Miedo = Fear
• Enojo = Anger
• Ansiedad = Anxiety
• Frustración = Frustration
• Desesperación = Desperation
• Celos = Jealousy
• Culpabilidad = Guilt
• Vergüenza = Shame
• Soledad = Loneliness

Fun Fact:

In psychological discussions, Spanish speakers may distinguish between emoción and sentimiento (feeling). While emoción refers to a physical and spontaneous reaction to stimuli, sentimiento is often used to describe more lasting and conscious emotional states.

In addition to emoción, there are the verb forms emocionar and emocionarse. Emocionar means to move or to excite someone emotionally. Emocionarse is a reflexive verb, meaning to become excited or to be moved. It focuses on the subject’s internal experience of feeling emotions.

Spanish idioms featuring ’emoción’