anclar

To anchor, literally for a ship (el barco ancló en la bahía) and very commonly figuratively — to fix or ground an idea, identity, or habit firmly in place (anclar una creencia, anclarse en una rutina). The figurative sense is at least as frequent as the nautical one in everyday Spanish.

• El barco ancló frente a la costa. — The ship anchored off the coast.
• Sus valores están anclados en la tradición familiar. — Their values are anchored in family tradition.
• Necesitamos anclar bien la estantería a la pared. — We need to anchor the shelving unit firmly to the wall.

Overlooking the figurative sense — anclar isn't just nautical; 'anclado en algo' is an everyday way to describe being firmly rooted in a belief, habit, or period of time.

Often confused with fijar.

• expression "Anclado/a en el pasado" — A widely used fixed expression describing someone unable to move past earlier events, stuck emotionally or mentally in a previous time — common in everyday speech, self-help writing, and pop psychology articles across the Spanish-speaking world.