merla

Catalan

Alternative forms

• merlera

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan merla, from Latin merula. Compare Occitan mèrla, Spanish mierla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈme̞r.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈmɛr.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈmɛɾ.la]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ˈmɛr.la]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

merla f (plural merles, masculine merlot, masculine plural merlots)

1. blackbird

Derived terms

• merla ala-roja
• merla blava
• merla cuablanca
• merla cuada comuna
• merla d'aigua
• merla de pit blanc
• merla roquera

Related terms

• merleta

References

• “merla”, 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
• “merla”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “merla” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “merla”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Galician

Merla

Alternative forms

• melra

Etymology

Inherited from Latin merula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛɾ.lɐ]

Noun

merla f (plural merlas)

1. blackbird
   • 1418, Ángel Rodríguez González (ed.), Libro do Concello de Santiago (1416-1422). Santiago de Compostela: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 95:

     Iten tordos et melrras cada hũu a coroado.

     Item, thrushes and blackbirds, each one, a crown

   Synonyms: merliño, merlo

Derived terms

• merla troiteira

References

• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “merla”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “merla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “merla”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “merla”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛr.la/
• Rhymes: -ɛrla
• Hyphenation: mèr‧la

Etymology 1

From Latin merula.

Noun

merla f (plural merle)

1. female equivalent of merlo (“blackbird”)
2. (heraldry) martlet

Etymology 2

Verb

merla

1. inflection of merlare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative