duende

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowing from Spanish duende, from Old Spanish duen de casa (“house master”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /duˈẽ.d͡ʒi/, /ˈdwẽ.d͡ʒi/
• (South Brazil) IPA^(key): /duˈẽ.de/, /ˈdwẽ.de/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /duˈẽ.dɨ/, /ˈdwẽ.dɨ/

Noun

duende m (plural duendes)

1. (Iberian folklore) A small humanoid creature who invades homes at night to carry out mischief and scare the residents.
2. (by extension, fiction) Any small fictional humanoid, especially a mischievous or evil one.

Usage notes

• This term is commonly used in fiction to translate the name of various creatures such as imps, gnomes and goblins.

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Spanish

FWOTD – 29 March 2016

Etymology

From Old Spanish duen de casa (“master of the house”). See more at dueño.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdwen.de/, [ˈd̪wẽ̞n̪d̪e̞]
• Hyphenation: duen‧de

Noun

duende m (plural duendes)

1. (Iberian folklore) A small humanoid creature who invades homes at night to carry out mischief and scare the residents.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Raquel Cachafeiro Gil, El Duende de la Navidad, ISBN 9788461623341, page 4:

     El duende de la Navidad vive en las ramas del manzano, pasa el tiempo subiendo y bajando, atareado con unir la luz del sol a la tierra y otras tareas similares. Cada año, en el invierno, se asoma a las ramas y mira a las estrellas y ve caer la […]

2. (by extension, fiction) elf, imp

   Synonyms: elfo, hada, gnomo

3. (by extension) charisma (the power to attract through personal magnetism and charm)

   Synonyms: carisma

4. (by extension) charm, magic

   Synonyms: encanto, embrujo, magia

Derived terms

• duendecillo

Descendants

Descendants

• Cebuano: dewende
• English: duwende
• Portuguese: duende

• Russian: дуэ́нде (duénde)
• Tagalog: duwende
• Ukrainian: дуе́нде (duénde)

References

• “duende” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.