zapatilla

Galician

Noun

zapatilla f (plural zapatillas)

1. slipper, house shoe
2. sneaker, tennis shoe

Related terms

• zapateiro
• zapatería
• zapato

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Spanish zapato

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -lus

Latin -ellus

Latin -ella

Old Spanish -iella

Spanish -illa

Spanish zapatilla

From zapato (“shoe”) + -illa (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /θapaˈtiʝa/ [θa.paˈt̪i.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)

• IPA^(key): /θapaˈtiʝa/ [θa.paˈt̪i.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Spain)
• IPA^(key): /θapaˈtiʎa/ [θa.paˈt̪i.ʎa] (rustic northern Spain)

 

• IPA^(key): /sapaˈtiʝa/ [sa.paˈt̪i.ʝa] (Latin America)

• IPA^(key): /sapaˈtiʝa/ [sa.paˈt̪i.ʝa] (most of Latin America)
• IPA^(key): /sapaˈtiʎa/ [sa.paˈt̪i.ʎa] (northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /sapaˈtiʃa/ [sa.paˈt̪i.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /sapaˈtiʒa/ [sa.paˈt̪i.ʒa] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /sapaˈtia/ [sa.paˈt̪i.a] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

 

• Rhymes: -iʝa

• Rhymes: -iʝa (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -iʎa (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iʃa (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -iʒa (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• Rhymes: -ia (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Syllabification: za‧pa‧ti‧lla

Noun

zapatilla f (plural zapatillas)

1. (also Catalonia) slipper, slip-on shoe (house shoe)

   Synonyms: pantufla, babucha, zapatilla de estar por casa

2. (Spain) ellipsis of zapatilla de deporte (“sneaker, trainer”)

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:tenis

3. cleat

   Synonym: suela

Usage notes

• Many speakers in Spain do not know about the sport shoe sense.

Derived terms

• zapatilla de andar por casa

Descendants

• → Tagalog: sapatilya

Further reading

• “zapatilla”, 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