zaguán

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Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Andalusian Arabic إِسْطِوَان (ʔisṭiwān), from Arabic أُسْطُوَانَة (ʔusṭuwāna, pillar).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): (Spain) /θaˈɡwan/ [θaˈɣ̞wãn]
  • IPA(key): (Latin America) /saˈɡwan/ [saˈɣ̞wãn]
  • Rhymes: -an
  • Syllabification: za‧guán

Noun[edit]

zaguán m (plural zaguanes)

  1. vestibule; front hall or entryway; foyer
    • 1956 [1944], Jorge Luis Borges, “La biblioteca de Babel”, in Ficciones, Buenos Aires: Emecé Editores, El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan, page 85:
      Una de las caras libres da a un angosto zaguán, que desemboca en otra galería, idéntica a la primera y a todas. A izquierda y a derecha del zaguán hay dos gabinetes minúsculos.
      One of the free plots faces a narrow vestibule, which leads into another gallery, identical to the first one and to all of them. To the left and right of the vestibule there are two little cabinets.
    • 1997, Roberto Bolaño, “La nieve”, in Llamadas telefónicas [Last Evenings on Earth]:
      Solo encontré borrachos que me ignoraron y sombras que al pasar se ocultaban en los inmensos zaguanes de la avenida Medvedsita.
      I only found drunkards who ignored me and shadows that hid in the huge hallways of Medvedsita Avenue as they passed.
  2. (Mexico) gate protecting a front yard or patio
    Synonym: portón

Descendants[edit]

  • Portuguese: saguão

Further reading[edit]