membrillo

See also: Membrillo

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish membrillo, menbriello (c. 1250), from Latin melimēlum (“sweet apple”), via an intermediary Vulgar Latin *melimellum (according to Joan Coromines), from Ancient Greek μελίμηλον (melímēlon), from μέλι (méli, “honey”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”). Compare Portuguese marmelo.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /memˈbɾiʝo/ [mẽmˈbɾi.ʝo]

• IPA^(key): /memˈbɾiʝo/ [mẽmˈbɾi.ʝo] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /memˈbɾiʎo/ [mẽmˈbɾi.ʎo] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /memˈbɾiʃo/ [mẽmˈbɾi.ʃo] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /memˈbɾiʒo/ [mẽmˈbɾi.ʒo] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /memˈbɾio/ [mẽmˈbɾi.o] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

 

• Rhymes: -iʝo

• Rhymes: -iʝo (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -iʎo (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iʃo (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -iʒo (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• Rhymes: -io (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Syllabification: mem‧bri‧llo

Noun

membrillo m (plural membrillos)

1. quince (fruit)
2. quince (tree)

   Synonym: membrillero

Derived terms

• carne de membrillo
• dulce de membrillo
• membrillo de Bengala

Further reading

• “membrillo”, 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