murciélago

Spanish

FWOTD – 4 February 2013

Alternative forms

• murciégalo (obsolete)
• morziegalo (obsolete)

Etymology

Metathetic diminutive of murciego (cf. murciégalo), from Old Spanish mur (“mouse”) + ciego (“blind”) or from Latin mūris caecus, both from mūs. Compare Portuguese morcego, Galician morcego.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /muɾˈθjelaɡo/ [muɾˈθje.la.ɣ̞o]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /muɾˈsjelaɡo/ [muɾˈsje.la.ɣ̞o]

• Audio (Spain)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -elaɡo
• Syllabification: mur‧cié‧la‧go

Noun

murciélago m (plural murciélagos, feminine murciélaga, feminine plural murciélagas)

1. bat (winged mammal)
   • 1800, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, chapter 12, in Historia General del Perú:

     ...adoraban al buho por la hermosura de sus ojos y cabeza, y al murciélago por la sutileza de su vista...

     ...they adored the owl for the prettiness of its eyes and head, and the bat for the subtlety of its sight...

   Synonyms: panarra, (New Mexico) ratón volador

Derived terms

• murciélago vampiro

 

Further reading

• “murciélago”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014