morriña

Galician

FWOTD – 10 October 2012

Alternative forms

• morrinha (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Unknown. Cognate of Portuguese morrinha and English murrain.

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.

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, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
• “morriña”, in Diccionario Básico de Canarismos, Academia Canaria de La Lengua, 2010