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

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -iʝa

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

• 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)

Related terms

• mejillón

 

Further reading

• “mejilla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014