maleta

See also: Maleta and Małeta

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French malete, diminutive of male (“leather bag”). Cognate with contemporary French mallette (“briefcase”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [məˈlɛ.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [məˈlə.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [maˈle.ta]
• Homophone: meleta

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Noun

maleta f (plural maletes)

1. suitcase

Derived terms

• boneta
• maleter
• maletí

Further reading

• “maleta”, 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
• “maleta”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “maleta”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Central Bikol

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maleta.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ma‧le‧ta
• IPA^(key): /maˈleta/ [maˈl̪e.ta]

Noun

maléta

1. suitcase, briefcase
2. valise, trunk

   Synonyms: baul, kaban

Central Tarahumara

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maleta (“suitcase”).

Noun

maleta

1. rifle case

References

• Hilton, K. Simón (1993), Diccionario tarahumara de Samachique, Chihuahua, México (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 101)‎^[1] (in Spanish), special corrected and updated edition, Tucson: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, page 42
• Hilton, K. Simón with Shoemaker, Wes (2016), Diccionario tarahumara actualizado‎^[2] (in Spanish), draft edition, SIL International, page 28

Chavacano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maleta (“suitcase”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈleta/, [maˈle.t̪a]
• Hyphenation: ma‧le‧ta

Noun

maleta

1. suitcase

Estonian

Noun

maleta

1. abessive singular of male

Galician

Etymology

Attested since 1370. Ultimately from Old French malete, displacing maeta (13th century), from male (“leather bag, leather or wooden travel-case”), from Frankish *malha (“leather bag”), from Proto-Germanic *malhō (“leather bag”). Compare English mail.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈleta/ [maˈle.t̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -eta
• Hyphenation: ma‧le‧ta

Noun

maleta f (plural maletas)

1. suitcase
   • 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana. Introducción e texto, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 417:

     Et poso en suas maletas seu auer, et vesteusse moy rricament

     And she put her belongings in her suitcases, and dressed herself richly

2. (figurative) hunchback
3. (figurative) jobless and lazy person; vagrant

   Synonym: palanquín

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “maleta”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “maleta”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “maleta”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “maleta”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “maleta”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Further reading

• “maleta”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “maleta”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Spanish maleta and Portuguese maleta.

Noun

maleta

1. suitcase
2. trunk

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈle.tɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈle.tɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈle.ta/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐˈle.tɐ/

• Hyphenation: ma‧le‧ta

Noun

maleta f (plural maletas)

1. suitcase
2. bag
3. briefcase (case used for carrying documents)

Synonyms

• valise

Further reading

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

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈleta/ [maˈle.t̪a]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: ma‧le‧ta

Etymology 1

From mala (“suitcase”, originally referred to a larger item like a chest or trunk) +‎ -eta (diminutive suffix).

Noun

maleta f (plural maletas)

1. suitcase (large piece of luggage)

   Synonyms: valija, petaca

2. (Cuba, Canary Islands) schoolbag

   Synonym: mochila

3. (Chile, Venezuela) trunk, boot (of a car)

   Synonyms: maletero, cajuela

Derived terms

• hacer la maleta
• hacer las maletas

Related terms

• maletín m

Descendants

• → Central Bikol: maleta
• → Central Tarahumara: maleta
• → Cebuano: maleta
• > Chavacano: maleta (inherited)
• → Tagalog: maleta
• → Tausug: malita
• → Yakan: maleta

Etymology 2

Wordplay of malo (“bad”) by replacing it with the existing noun maleta. Compare the wordplay (common in El Salvador) of Simón (“Simon (male personal name)”) to replace the particle sí (“yes”).

Adjective

maleta m or f (masculine and feminine plural maletas)

1. (colloquial, El Salvador) bad at, sloppy, negligent (incompetent or lazy in performing a job or activity)

   Mi profesora de quinto grado sí que era bien maleta.

   My 5th grade teacher was so bad at her job.

   • 2012 November 20, Efren Lemus, Óscar Luna, Mauro Arias, ““No me veía con la personalidad para salir en televisión””, in El Faro‎^[3], archived from the original on 26 March 2016:

     ¿Para qué deporte eras maleta?
     ¿Maleta?
     Sí, así malo, malo, que vos decís: esto no lo voy a practicar nunca...
     Híjole… natación. Yo aquí crecí con natación…

     "What sport did you suck at?"
     "Suck?"
     "Yeah, like bad, quite bad, so much you tell yourself: 'I'm never going to practise this...'"
     "Oh god... swimming. I grew up doing swimming...

   • 2026 February 5, user Funny_Disaster1002, “QUE OPINAN DE UN FUTURO ESCUDO Y EQUIPACION DE VISITA PARA LA SELECTA USANDO EL TOROGOZ Y EL MAQUILISHUAT COMO BASES???”, in Reddit‎^[4], archived from the original on 29 March 2026:

     Seguiremos siendo tan maletas en el fútbol que lo más candente de nuestro fútbol será el diseño de la camiseta que vamos a usar para que nos vacune Curacao

     We'll continue being so bad at soccer that the most attractive part of our soccer will be the design of the shirt we use when Curaçao shows us who's our daddy.

Further reading

• “maleta”, 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

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maleta (“suitcase”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /maˈleta/ [mɐˈlɛː.t̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -eta
• Syllabification: ma‧le‧ta

Noun

maleta (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜎᜒᜆ)

1. suitcase; valise

Further reading

• “maleta”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “maleta”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Yakan

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maleta (“suitcase”).

Noun

maleta

1. suitcase