pirauruku

Old Tupi

pirauruku

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *pira

Old Tupi pirá

Proto-Tupian *ɨrʲuku

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *uruku

Old Tupi uruku

Old Tupi pirauruku

From pirá (“fish”) +‎ uruku (“achiote”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [piˌɾa.u.ɾuˈku]
• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: pi‧rá‧u‧ru‧ku

Noun

pirauruku (unpossessable)

1. (North Tupi, hapax) arapaima (Arapaima gigas)
   • c. 1631, Christovão de Lisboa, Historia dos animaes e arvores do Maranhão‎^[1] (overall work in Portuguese), Lisbon, page 175v:

     Pira urucu

     [Pirauruku]

Descendants

• Nheengatu: pirarukú, piraruku
  • → Brazilian Portuguese: pirarucu
    • → English: pirarucu
    • → Japanese: ピラルクー
    • → Paraguayan Guaraní: piraruku
    • → Spanish: pirarucú

Further reading

• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “pirauruku”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 387, column 2