merluza

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish merluza.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /meʁˈlu.zɐ/ [meɦˈlu.zɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /meʁˈlu.zɐ/ [meɦˈlu.zɐ]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /meɾˈlu.zɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /meʁˈlu.zɐ/
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /meɻˈlu.zɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /meʁˈlu.za/ [meɦˈlu.za]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨɾˈlu.zɐ/

• Rhymes: -uzɐ

Noun

merluza f (plural merluzas)

1. hake (any of several fish of the genus Merluccius)

   Synonym: (rare) merlúcio

Further reading

• “merluza”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “merluza”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “merluza”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “merluza”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From French merlu, from mer (“sea”) + dialectal luceau (“pike”), from Latin lucius.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meɾˈluθa/ [meɾˈlu.θa] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /meɾˈlusa/ [meɾˈlu.sa] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -uθa (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• Rhymes: -usa (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: mer‧lu‧za

Noun

merluza f (plural merluzas)

1. any of the fish in the genus Merluccius, all commonly called hakes in English; in Spain especially the European hake, Merluccius merluccius
2. (Spain, colloquial) drunkenness

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:borrachera

3. (colloquial, Argentina) cocaine

Further reading

• “merluza”, 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
• “merluza”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010