hornear
/oɾneˈaɾ/
To bake in Spanish is hornear.
hornear means to cook food using dry heat in an oven. If you need to provide instructions for baking, you might use phrases like Precalienta el horno (Preheat the oven) or Engrasa el molde para hornear (Grease the baking pan).
What does it mean word for word?
The verb hornear is derived from the noun horno, which means oven.
Which one should you use?
While hornear refers specifically to cooking with dry heat in an oven, the verb cocer is a more general term used for cooking or boiling in liquid. Additionally, instead of using a conjugated form of hornear to describe a dish as 'baked' (such as a baked potato), Spanish speakers often use the phrase al horno.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina, the phrase Hacer una torta can be used to mean 'to bake a cake'.
How does it change in a sentence?
The standard verb form is hornear.
How do you pronounce it?
/oɾneˈaɾ/
Did you know?
- The noun horno is used in several idiomatic expressions beyond cooking, such as 'estar en el horno', which can mean being in a difficult or certain situation.
- In some regions, the word horno refers not just to the appliance, but to the traditional community oven where entire villages once baked their bread together.
- The verb hornear shares an ancient ancestor with the English word 'furnace', as both trace back to the Latin 'furnus'.
Examples in context
- Consejos para hornear un pastel.Tips to bake a cake.This sentence provides tips for using hornear with a cake.Tatoeba #4611613 by DarkHollow, translation #4609645 by LeeSooHa
- Tom le enseñó a Mary a hornear pan.Tom taught Mary how to bake bread.This sentence shows how to use hornear when teaching someone to bake bread.Tatoeba #1439610 by marcelostockle, translation #1027972 by CK
- Hoy voy a hornear una tarta de melocotón.I'm going to bake a peach pie today.This sentence illustrates using hornear for a peach pie.Tatoeba #10065311 by manufrutos, translation #10064829 by meshbags
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucía and Alejandro are in the kitchen deciding what to make.
- Lucía¿Me ayudas a hornear este bizcocho?Will you help me bake this sponge cake?
- AlejandroSí, Lucía, me encantaría ayudarte.Yes, Lucía, I would love to help you.
- LucíaPrimero tenemos que hornear las galletas.First we have to bake the cookies.
- AlejandroPerfecto, yo prepararé la masa.Perfect, I will prepare the dough.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry hornear, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries hornear, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
