What Does The Spanish Word 'Encanto' Mean?

If you’ve been studying Spanish or watching Spanish movies, you may have encountered the word encanto.

Most likely, you’ve also heard of the Disney movie called Encanto.

What does encanto mean?

The Spanish language has many beautiful words, and this is definitely is one of my favorites.

Read on for a breakdown and explanation of the word encanto.

Meaning of the Spanish word encanto

Encanto has a few different nuances.

In the Encanto movie, this word refers to the enchantment or magical spell that ensures the main family has special powers.

However, depending on context, encanto can also the following connotations:

charm
enchanting / charming
lovely
beauty
dear
love

It’s going to depend on the context and manner in which it’s used.

What part of speech does encanto belong to in Spanish?

Encanto is a noun (sustantivo in Spanish).

It’s worth remembering that encanto is a masculine noun in most contexts, which you can tell from its -o suffix.

However, encanto is also the first-person, present-tense verb of the word encantar.

So, the meaning of encanto in this case is “I enchant” or “I charm”.

What is the infinitive of the word encanto?

The noun encanto is a version of the infinitive verb encantar.

The verb encantar can mean “to receive enchantment/magical powers” in some contexts (like in the movie Encanto), but it can also mean to win someone’s heart or make them fall for you with natural gifts.

What other verb conjugations of the verb encantar do Spanish speakers use

Aside from encanto, Spanish speakers use several verb conjugations of the verb encantar in different contexts.

Here is a full list of the present and past simple tense verb conjugations of the verb encantar:

English verb present tense conjugations [to charm]	Spanish verb present tense conjugations [encantar]	Spanish verb past simple tense conjugations [encantar]
I charm	Encanto	Encanté
You charm	Encantas	Encantaste
He/She/It charms	Encanta	Encantó
We charm	Encantamos	Encantamos
They charm	Encantáis	Encontasteis
You [all] charm	Encantan	Encantaron

What does encantó mean in Spanish?

You can see in the table above that encantó is a past simple Spanish verb, but what does encantó mean?

This verb means “he/she/it charmed people” or “he/she/it loved people”. Note that it’s not the same as the verb encanto.

The Spanish accent mark above the -o in encantó changes the meaning.

Since this is a past simple Spanish verb, encantó means that “he/she/it charmed people” at one specific moment in time and not for a long period. If you want to say, “he/she/it used to charm people frequently over a long time”, use encantaba.

You can use encantó just as you would use the past tense, third-person verb gustó.

For example, me encantó is a synonym for the phrase me gustó.

While a literal translation of _me encantó _is “it charmed me”, me gustó means “it appealed to me” or “I liked it”.

Encantado

If you look up the word encantado in the Real Academia Española dictionary, you’ll see that encantado is the participio or participle form of the verb encantar.

The English equivalent of encantado is “charmed” or the more formal “pleased to meet you”, which we can use when meeting someone new.

Don’t forget that you should use encantado if you’re a male and encantada if you’re a female.

What does the phrase encanto mean when it has the article un in Spanish?

You may have encountered the phrase un encanto in your Spanish studies or course.

This phrase means “a charming [person/woman/man/child]”. To use this phrase, complete the sentence with the noun or person you describe.

As you can see, encanto means “charming” in this context, which is like an adjective here. But continue reading for usage examples of this phrase if you’re unsure how to use it.