maraca

See also: Maraca

English

Etymology

From Brazilian Portuguese maraca, derived from Old Tupi maraká or Guaraní mbaraká (“rattle”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US, General Australian) IPA^(key): /məˈɹæ.kə/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /məˈɹɑ.kə/
• Rhymes: -ækə, -ɑːkə
• Hyphenation: ma‧ra‧ca

Noun

maraca (plural maracas)

1. (music) A Latin American percussion instrument consisting of a hollow-gourd rattle containing pebbles or beans and often played in pairs, as a rhythm instrument.
   • 2022 March 25, Helen Leigh, “Defiant Jazz”, in Severance, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman):

     Helly, please approach the MDE cart. You may choose one genre and one accessory… the maraca. Excellent choice.

2. (slang, in the plural) Breasts.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:breasts

Derived terms

• maracaist

Translations

a Latin American rhythm instrument

• Catalan: maraca (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 沙錘 / 沙锤 / 沙槌 (shāchuí)

• Cubeo: jãjabʉ
• Czech: rumba koule f
• Danish: maraca (da) c
• Dutch: maraka m or f (Suriname), sambabal (nl) m (informal)
• Finnish: marakassi (fi)
• Galician: maraca (gl) f
• German: Maraca f, Rumbakugel (de) f
• Haitian Creole: tchatcha
• Irish: maraca m
• Italian: maraca f
• Japanese: マラカス (marakasu)
• Portuguese: maraca (pt) f, maracá (pt) m
• Romanian: maracas (ro) n
• Russian: мара́кас (ru) m (marákas)
• Spanish: maraca (es) f
• Sranan Tongo: maraka
• Swedish: maracas (sv) c pl
• Turkish: marakas
• Wayana: malak
• Ye'kwana: madaka

Anagrams

• Camara

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maraca, from Guaraní mbaraká (“rattle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [məˈɾa.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [maˈɾa.ka]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aka
• Hyphenation: ma‧ra‧ca

Noun

maraca f (plural maraques)

1. (music) maraca

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese maraca, derived from Old Tupi maraká or Guaraní mbaraká (“rattle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑˈʁɑka/, [mɑ̈ˈʁ̞ɑ̈kʰæ]

Noun

maraca c (singular definite maracaen, plural indefinite maracaer)

1. (music) maraca

Declension

Declension of maraca

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	maraca	maracaen	maracaer	maracaerne
genitive	maracas	maracaens	maracaers	maracaernes

References

• “maraca” in Den Danske Ordbog

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maraca, derived from Guaraní mbaraká (“rattle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈra.ka/
• Rhymes: -aka
• Hyphenation: ma‧rà‧ca

Noun

maraca f (plural maracas or maraca)

1. (music) maraca

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• maracá m

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Tupi maraká or Guaraní mbaraká (“rattle”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈɾa.kɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈɾa.kɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈɾa.ka/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐˈɾa.kɐ/

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -akɐ
• Hyphenation: ma‧ra‧ca

Noun

maraca f (plural maracas)

1. (music) maraca

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Guaraní mbaraká (“rattle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈɾaka/ [maˈɾa.ka]
• Rhymes: -aka
• Syllabification: ma‧ra‧ca

Noun

maraca f (plural maracas)

1. (music) a maraca
2. (Chile, Argentina, derogatory) a whore
3. (Chile, Argentina, derogatory) a gay man

Related terms

• maraco

Further reading

• “maraca”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Anagrams

• cámara