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despuntar

to excel, to stand out

verb des-poon-TAHR Rare

Also means

to dawn, to begin to appear

Usage Note

Despuntar has two main senses: to begin to emerge (as in despuntar el día, 'to dawn') and to excel or stand out among others (despunta entre sus compañeros). The first is more literary and temporal; the second is the more common everyday sense in modern Spanish. Both come from punta (tip, point).

Examples

"La joven despunta en matemáticas desde pequeña."

Natural Translation

The young woman has excelled in mathematics since childhood.

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