cobaia

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *aŋuja?

Old Tupi saûîá

Old Tupi sobaî

Proto-Tupian *-ap

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *-aβ?

Old Tupi -a

Old Tupi saûîasobaîader.

taxonomic name Cavia cobayalbor.

Galician cobaia

Learned borrowing from taxonomic name Cavia cobaya, from Old Tupi saûîasobaîa.

Sense 2 is likely a semantic loan from English guinea pig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koˈbaja/ [koˈβ̞a̠.jɐ]
• Rhymes: -aja

Noun

cobaia f (plural cobaias)

1. guinea pig

   Synonym: coello de indias

3. (figuratively) guinea pig (volunteer for an experiment)

Further reading

• “cobaia”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “cobaia”, in DIGALEGO - Dicionario de Galego (in Galician), Ir Indo; Xunta de Galicia, 2013 [2004]
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cobaia”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Portuguese

cobaia

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *aŋuja?

Old Tupi saûîá

Old Tupi sobaî

Proto-Tupian *-ap

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *-aβ?

Old Tupi -a

Old Tupi saûîasobaîader.

taxonomic name Cavia cobayalbor.

Portuguese cobaia

Learned borrowing from taxonomic name Cavia cobaya, from Old Tupi saûîasobaîa.

Sense 2 is likely a semantic loan from English guinea pig.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /koˈbaj.ɐ/ [koˈbaɪ̯.ɐ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kuˈbaj.ɐ/ [kuˈβaj.ɐ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kuˈbaj.ɐ/ [kuˈβaj.ɐ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kuˈbaj.ɐ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ajɐ
• Hyphenation: co‧bai‧a

Noun

cobaia f (plural cobaias)

1. synonym of porquinho-da-índia
3. (figuratively) guinea pig (volunteer for an experiment)

Further reading

• “cobaia”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cobaia”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026