muertear

From muerte +‎ -ar.

• IPA^(key): /mweɾteˈaɾ/ [mweɾ.t̪eˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: muer‧te‧ar

muertear (first-person singular present muerteo, first-person singular preterite muerteé, past participle muerteado)

1. (Mexico, rare) to carry out a certain process to remember the dead
   • 2005, Leonardo Ernesto Márquez Mireles, De la agricultura traditional a la convencional: ahorro y capital en Cruz de Piedra, Estado de México 157:

     En el año 2003, debido a la muerte de seis individuos en el año, cuatro adultos y dos niños, se realizaron seis “Velas Nuevas.” El término de Vela Nueva se utiliza por ser la primera vez que van a “ofrendarle al muerto,” por lo tanto, es necesario hacer un ofrecimiento mayor por el alma del difunto. Esta situación no sólo involucra a la familia del finado sino a toda la comunidad a través de la participación de lo que han denominado “muertear.” Por “muertear,” la gente entiende que en las casas donde “hay un difunto del año” se ponen ofrendas para que sean visitadas por los vecinos del pueblo o de comunidades aledañas. Durante el recorrido, se pueden topar con el rezandero y participan en el rosario. Un día después se reparte la fruta; y al tercer día, quitan totalmente los adornos de la ofrenda.

     In 2003, due to the death of six (four adults and two children), the people made six "New Candles". The term "New Candle" is used because this was going to be the first time that they offered respects to dead people, which meant it was necessary to do a greater offering for the souls of those passed away. This situation doesn't only involve the deceased people's families, but also the whole community as they participate in what they call muertear. By muertear, they mean that, in houses where there is a "deceased person for the year", they make offerings to be visited by the town's neighbours or nearby communities. During the visit, they can encounter the prayer man and participate in the rosary. The next day, fruit is distributed, and on the third day, all ornaments are removed from the offering.

• In 2015, the American website InSight Crime published an article with a comment about Salvadoran Spanish forming this verb as an effect of gang violence deaths, but the word is unattested in Salvadoran newspapers, and is perhaps a spurious invention. The term, however, can be found reported in Mexican writing but very rarely.