bombilla

English

A bombilla

Etymology

Borrowed from Rioplatense Spanish bombilla (“straw”, literally “little pump”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɒmˈbiː(j)ə/, /boʊmˈbiʃə/

Noun

bombilla (plural bombillas)

1. A straw, often made of metal, ending in a filter and used for drinking maté.
   • 1856 July–October, The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, volume IV, A. and C. Black, page 194:

     The maté is then filled with yerva, after the bombilla has been placed in position. The bombilla is literally “a little pump,” that is, a sucking tube, ending in a perforated bulb, which performs the office of the perforated diaphragm in our teapot spouts.

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish bombilla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bomˈbiʎa/ [bõmˈbi.ʎa]
• Rhymes: -iʎa
• Syllabification: bom‧bi‧lla

Noun

bombilla f (plural bombilles)

1. light bulb

Further reading

• “bombilla”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Pre-Greekbor.

Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos)bor.

Latin bombusbor.

Spanish bomba

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -lus

Latin -ellus

Latin -ella

Old Spanish -iella

Spanish -illa

Spanish bombilla

From bomba + -illa.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bomˈbiʝa/ [bõmˈbi.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /bomˈbiʝa/ [bõmˈbi.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /bomˈbiʎa/ [bõmˈbi.ʎa] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /bomˈbiʃa/ [bõmˈbi.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /bomˈbiʒa/ [bõmˈbi.ʒa] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /bomˈbia/ [bõmˈbi.a] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -iʝa

• Rhymes: -iʝa (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -iʎa (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iʃa (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -iʒa (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• Rhymes: -ia (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Syllabification: bom‧bi‧lla

Noun

bombilla f (plural bombillas)

1. diminutive of bomba
2. light bulb

   Synonyms: bombillo, (Chile) ampolleta, foco

3. bombilla, drinking straw

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pajita

4. (vulgar, colloquial) penis

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pene

Derived terms

• encendérsele la bombilla
• iluminársele la bombilla
• prenderse la bombilla, prendérsele la bombilla

Descendants

• → Cebuano: bumbilya
• → Central Bikol: bombilya
• → Tagalog: bombilya
• → Tarifit: bumbiya

Further reading

• “bombilla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “bombilla”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “bombilla”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA
• bombilla | Diccionario • DELE Ahora