manilla

See also: Manila and manila

English

Etymology 1

From Spanish manilla (“bracelet”), from Catalan manilla (“bracelet, armring”); partly from Latin monīle (“a necklace, collar”), from Proto-Indo-European *mony- (“withers, crest, mane”); and partly from Frankish *mānili (“moon-shaped ornament”), from *māno (“moon”), from Proto-Germanic *mēnô (“moon”), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), related to Old High German mânili (“moon-shaped ornament”). More at mane, moon.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪlə

Noun

manilla (plural manillas)

1. A penannular armlet, sometimes worn on the leg or neck or used as an ornament, mostly in bronze, copper or gold, which served as a form of money or barter coinage amongst certain West African peoples.

Alternative forms

• manilio
• Manilla

Etymology 2

Adjective

manilla (not comparable)

1. Alternative spelling of manila (“made of or colored like manila paper”).

Noun

manilla (countable and uncountable, plural manillas)

1. Alternative spelling of manila.

Anagrams

• Alnilam, animall, laminal

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin manīcula, diminutive of manus (“hand”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [məˈni.ʎə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [maˈni.ʎa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

manilla f (plural manilles)

1. bracelet
2. (usually in the plural) handcuff

Further reading

• “manilla”, 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
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “manilla”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Finnish

Noun

manilla

1. adessive singular of mani

Spanish

Etymology

From mano +‎ -illa, or more likely borrowed from Catalan manilla, itself either the same kind of construction or from Vulgar Latin *manicla < Latin manicula, whence the inherited Spanish manija. Compare English manacle.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /maˈniʝa/ [maˈni.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /maˈniʝa/ [maˈni.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /maˈniʎa/ [maˈni.ʎa] (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /maˈniʃa/ [maˈni.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /maˈniʒa/ [maˈni.ʒa] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

 

• Rhymes: -iʝa

• Rhymes: -iʝa (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -iʎa (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iʃa (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -iʒa (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Syllabification: ma‧ni‧lla

Noun

manilla f (plural manillas)

1. handle

   Synonym: manivela

2. hand (of a clock)

   Synonym: manecilla

   • 1974, José Luis Perales, “Porque te vas”, performed by Jeanette:

     Junto a las manillas de un reloj esperarán / Todas las horas que quedaron por vivir, esperarán

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (Spain) door handle

   Synonym: tirador

4. (Colombia) bracelet

   Synonyms: ajorca, brazalete, pulsera, armilla (obsolete)

Derived terms

• enmanillar

Related terms

• manillar

Further reading

• “manilla”, 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