Conato

[Tomisimo]

I was reading some things on the net and I came across the word conato (http://www.tomisimo.org/dictionary/spanish_english/conato). It looks like this word means endeavor, try, attempt, effort etc. But I'm having trouble translating it in the context which I found it in. For example:

- Conato de inundación
- Controlan bomberos conato de incendio en Tlalnepantla
- Conato de emergencia medioambiental
- Un conato de incendio detectado en un cajetín telefónico a primera hora de esta mañana provocó la evacuación de unos 40 trabajadores de la sede de la Conselleria

In these cases would it be the threat of fire, the threat of fooding? What would the best translation be?

[Elaina]

Hola David:

Conato - asi como tu la escribiste usando los ejemplos que das sería....

conato de inundación - flooding threat
Controlan bomberos conato de incendio en Tlalnepantla - Firemen in Tlalnepantla bring small fire under control
Conato de emergencia medioambiental - Minor outbreak of environmental emergencies......

I have always used it to indicate attempt, threat, outbreak.....nothing big, always small, minor

I hope I was able to help.

Elaina:o

[Tomisimo]

Thanks Elaina, that is a big help. In English if you use "a threat of something" then that something in fact did not take place. If you use small, outbreak minor etc, then the "something" did take place, but wasn't very big, important or dangerous. It's interesting that those two concepts converge and are covered by that one term "conato" in Spanish. Thanks for the help.

[sosia]

conato it's an happened event who could be big or dangerous, but it was controlled before it was big. (Ha sucedido, pero se controló antes de que fuese importante.)
Conato de incendio, conato de inundación, conato de atentado, etc.
No te puedo dar ejemplos en inglés :D. Elaina lo ha descrito muy bien

[Tomisimo]

Gracias sosia, eso también me ayuda mucho para entender el concepto.