medalla

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian medaglia, from Early Medieval Latin medālia. Doublet of malla, the native Catalan counterpart.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʎa
• Hyphenation: me‧da‧lla

Noun

medalla f (plural medalles)

1. medal

Derived terms

• medallista
• medalló

Further reading

• “medalla”, 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
• “medalla”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “medalla” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “medalla” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Chavacano

Etymology

From Spanish medalla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meˈdaʎa/, [meˈd̪a.ʎa]
• Rhymes: -aʎa
• Hyphenation: me‧da‧lla

Noun

medalla (plural medallas)

1. medal

Related terms

• medallon

Galician

Alternative forms

• medalha (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian medaglia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meˈdaɟa/ [meˈð̞a̠.ɟɐ]
• Rhymes: -aɟa
• Hyphenation: me‧da‧lla

Noun

medalla f (plural medallas)

1. medal

Further reading

• “medalla”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian medaglia (originally "half a denarius"), from Early Medieval Latin medālia, ultimately from Latin medius. Doublet of meaja, the native Spanish counterpart. Related to English medal, ultimately from the same Italian source.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /meˈdaʝa/ [meˈð̞a.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /meˈdaʝa/ [meˈð̞a.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /meˈdaʎa/ [meˈð̞a.ʎa] (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /meˈdaʃa/ [meˈð̞a.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /meˈdaʒa/ [meˈð̞a.ʒa] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

 

• Rhymes: -aʝa

• Rhymes: -aʝa (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -aʎa (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aʃa (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -aʒa (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Syllabification: me‧da‧lla

Noun

medalla f (plural medallas)

1. medal

Hyponyms

• medalla de bronce (“bronze medal”)
• medalla de honor (“badge of honor”)
• medalla de oro (“gold medal”)
• medalla de plata (“silver medal”)

Derived terms

• medallero
• medallista
• medallón
• reverso de la medalla

Descendants

• Chavacano: medalla
• → Maranao: midaliya
• → Tagalog: medalya

Further reading

• “medalla”, 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