gallina

See also: Gallina

Asturian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin gallīna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈʎina/ [ɡaˈʎi.na]
• Rhymes: -ina
• Syllabification: ga‧lli‧na

Noun

gallina f (plural gallines)

1. hen (female bird (i.e. chicken))

   Synonym: pita

Catalan

Alternative forms

• galina (Mallorca)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan gallina, from Latin gallīna. Compare Occitan galina, Old French jeline, Spanish gallina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ɡəˈʎi.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ɡaˈʎi.na]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ina

Noun

gallina f (plural gallines)

1. hen

Derived terms

• carn de gallina
• gallina cega
• gallinaire
• gallinassa
• gallinejar
• galliner

Adjective

gallina m or f (masculine and feminine plural gallines)

1. cowardly

See also

• lloca

References

• “gallina”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “gallina”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “gallina” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “gallina”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish gallina (“hen”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈʎina/, [ɡaˈʎi.na]
• Hyphenation: ga‧lli‧na

Noun

gallina

1. hen

Corsican

Alternative forms

• ghjaddina, ghjallina

Etymology

From Latin gallīna.

Noun

gallina f (plural galline)

1. hen

References

• “gallina” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

Italian

Etymology

From Latin gallīna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡalˈli.na/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ina
• Hyphenation: gal‧lì‧na

Noun

gallina f (plural galline, masculine gallo)

1. hen

Derived terms

• andare a letto con le galline
• gallina d’acqua
• gallina faraona
• gallina ovaiola
• gallina prataiola
• latte di gallina
• raspatura di gallina
• zampe di gallina

Related terms

• galletto
• gallinaccio
• gallinaceo
• gallinaio
• gallinella
• gallinetta
• gallinona

Anagrams

• alligna

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gelH-

Proto-Italic *galsos

Latin gallus

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos

Proto-Italic *-īnos

Latin -īnusnom.

Latin -īna

Latin gallina

From gallus (“rooster”) + -īna.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɡalˈliː.na]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ɡalˈliː.na]

Noun

gallīna f (genitive gallīnae); first declension

1. hen (female chicken)

   Anatum ōva gallīnīs saepe suppōnimus.

   We often place the eggs of ducks under hens.

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	gallīna	gallīnae
genitive	gallīnae	gallīnārum
dative	gallīnae	gallīnīs
accusative	gallīnam	gallīnās
ablative	gallīnā	gallīnīs
vocative	gallīna	gallīnae

Derived terms

• gallīnāceus
• gallīnārium
• gallīnārius

Descendants

• Balkano-Romance:
  • Aromanian: gãljinã
  • Istro-Romanian: gălirĕ
  • Megleno-Romanian: găľină
  • Romanian: găină
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Corsican: gallina, ghjaddina, ghjallina
  • Dalmatian: galaina
  • Italian: gallina
  • Sicilian: gaddina, jaddina
  • Venetan: gaƚina
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: gjaline
  • Ladin: gialina
  • Romansh: giaglina (Rumantsch Grischun), gagliegna, gaglina
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Lombard: gaina
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: gallina
  • Old French: geline
    • French: géline
    • Franc-Comtois: dgelène
    • Norman: gelène
    • Picard: glinne, glaine
      • Amiénois: glangne
  • Old Occitan: galina, galinha
    • Occitan: galina
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: gallina
  • Mirandese: galhina
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: galinha
    • Galician: galiña
    • Portuguese: galinha (see there for further descendants)
  • Spanish: gallina
• Germanic
  • → English: galeny, galeeny

References

• “gallina”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “gallina”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "gallina", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “gallina”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “gallina”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish, from Latin gallīna.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈʝina/ [ɡaˈʝi.na]

• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈʝina/ [ɡaˈʝi.na] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈʎina/ [ɡaˈʎi.na] (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈʃina/ [ɡaˈʃi.na] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈʒina/ [ɡaˈʒi.na] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Rhymes: -ina
• Syllabification: ga‧lli‧na

Noun

gallina f (plural gallinas, masculine gallo, masculine plural gallos)

1. hen
2. (colloquial) chicken (coward)

   Synonyms: cagado, cagón, cagueta, cobarde

   • 2022, Pedro Arizpe, Puerto Jerez‎^[1] (webcomic):

     ¡Ya pues, no te asomes! Queda claro que eres bien gallina...

     Okay, fine! Don't look outside. It's clear you're a big chicken...

Derived terms

• ají de gallina
• caldo de gallina
• cantar la gallina
• carne de gallina
• cólera de las gallinas
• como gallina en corral ajeno
• cuero de gallina
• echar una gallina
• gallina ciega
• gallina de agua
• gallina de Castilla
• gallina de Guinea
• gallina de la sierra
• gallina de la tierra
• gallina de los huevos de oro
• gallina de mar
• gallina ponedora
• leche de gallina
• paso de gallina
• pata de gallina
• pie de gallina
• piel de gallina

Related terms

• gallináceo
• gallinazo
• gallinero
• gallo

Further reading

• “gallina”, 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