estacionário
/is.ta.si.oˈna.ɾju/
The Portuguese word for the English adjective stationary (not moving) is estacionário.
The term estacionário is commonly used in technical, scientific or medical contexts to describe something that is not in motion or a state that is not changing. If you are referring to items used in an office, you might use the masculine singular phrase material de escritório (office materials) or the masculine plural phrase materiais de papelaria (stationery materials). To refer specifically to a stationery store, use loja de papelaria.
Meaning: not moving (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective estacionário changes to match the gender and number of the noun it describes: use estacionária for feminine singular, estacionários for masculine plural and estacionárias for feminine plural.
How do you pronounce it?
/is.ta.si.oˈna.ɾju/
Did you know?
- Portuguese uses estacionário for things that are physically still, but if a person is 'stationary' in their career or life, they are more likely to be described as estagnado, meaning 'stagnant'.
- The adjective estacionário is a close relative of estacionamento, the word for 'parking lot'. Both stem from the Latin root for 'station' or 'stopping point'.
- While estacionário refers to a fixed state, the word for a stationery shop is papelaria. This is because the Portuguese word for 'paper' is papel, making the shop's name unrelated to the concept of being stationary.
Examples in context
- Eu preciso comprar material de escritório para o escritório novoI need to buy office materials for the new office
- Por favor, compre material de escritório para toda a equipePlease buy office materials for the whole team
- Vamos à papelaria mais tarde. Preciso comprar algumas coisinhasLet's go to the stationery store later. I need to buy a few little things
- O objeto permanece estacionário.The object remains stationary.
- O veículo está estacionário no meio da rua.The vehicle is stationary in the middle of the street.
- O ar está estacionário hoje.The air is stationary today.
Example conversation
Rodrigo and Beatriz are discussing a science experiment.
- RodrigoA imagem está nítida agora, Beatriz?Is the image clear now, Beatriz?
- BeatrizAinda não, o sensor não está estacionário.Not yet, the sensor is not stationary.
- RodrigoVou tentar fixar o suporte agora.I will try to fix the support now.
- BeatrizPerfeito, agora podemos começar a gravação.Perfect, now we can start the recording.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “stationary” translations and entries estacionário, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
