mejilla

Spanish

Alternative forms

• mexilla (archaic)

Etymology

From earlier mexilla, maxiella, from Vulgar Latin *maxella, from Latin maxilla.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /meˈxiʝa/ [meˈxi.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /meˈxiʝa/ [meˈxi.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /meˈxiʎa/ [meˈxi.ʎa] (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /meˈxiʃa/ [meˈxi.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /meˈxiʒa/ [meˈxi.ʒa] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

 

• 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: me‧ji‧lla

Noun

mejilla f (plural mejillas)

1. (anatomy) cheek

   Synonyms: cachete, carrillo

   • 1994, José Ángel Mañas, chapter V, in Historias del Kronen, Barcelona: Ediciones Destino, →ISBN, page 69:

     Amalia aparece por el portal, sonríe y me da un beso dudoso entre la mejilla y el labio.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

• “mejilla”, 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