morriña

Galician

FWOTD – 10 October 2012

Alternative forms

• morrinha (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Ultimately from the same Latin etymon as its cognates, Portuguese morrinha and English murrain. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (standard) /moˈriɲa/ [moˈri.ɲɐ]
• IPA^(key): (dialectal) /muˈriɲa/ [muˈri.ɲɐ]
• Rhymes: -iɲa
• Hyphenation: mo‧rri‧ña

Noun

morriña f (plural morriñas)

1. longing; nostalgia; homesickness
   • (1986), Luís Caparrós Esperante, O Tempo como Castigo na Lírica de Rosalía in Actas do Congresso Internacional de estudios sobre Rosalía de Castro e o seu tempo, Consello da Cultura Galega, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, page 158:

     A morriña de Galicia confúndese coa morriña do pasado; a morriña do emigrante aseméllase á morriña polos bos tempos idos.

     The longing for Galicia is confused with the longing for the past; the emigrant’s longing is similar to the longing for good times gone by.

   Synonym: saudade

2. murrain
3. grime

   Synonyms: cotra, lorda

Derived terms

• morriñento

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “morriña”, 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), “morriña”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “morriña”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Galician morriña, ultimately from a form of Latin mori (“to die”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈriɲa/ [moˈri.ɲa]
• Rhymes: -iɲa
• Syllabification: mo‧rri‧ña

Noun

morriña f (uncountable)

1. (pathology, veterinary medicine) murrain

   Synonyms: comalia, hidropesía, zangarriana

2. (colloquial) homesickness, nostalgia

   Synonyms: añoranza, melancolía, musepo, nostalgia

3. (Andalusia, Canary Islands) sleepiness, somnolence, especially following a meal

   Synonym: modorra

4. (Canary Islands) drizzle

   Synonyms: llovizna, sirimiri

Further reading

• “morriña”, 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
• “morriña”, in Diccionario Básico de Canarismos [Basic Dictionary of Canarianisms] (in Spanish), Canarian Academy of the Language [Spanish: Academia Canaria de La Lengua], 2010