piranha

piranha

See also: Piranha

English

Serrasalmus nattereri LoroParqueTenerife red piranha IMG 5371

Alternative forms

• piraña, pirana
• piraya (obsolete)

Etymology

First attested in 1869.[1] The first part of the term is from Old Tupi pirá (“fish”). There are several theories regarding the source of second part, including:

• It may be from Old Tupi sanha, sainha (“tooth”), or a Guaraní cognate.[1]
• It may be from Old Tupi ánha, anhá (“cut”) (which also meant "bad" or "devil" in Tupi-Guarani).[2]
• The full term may have been pira nya, a variant of pira'ya (“scissor-fish”), in Old Tupi.[1]

The term entered English via Portuguese piranha and Spanish piraña.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɪˈɹɑːnjə/, /pɪˈɹɑːnə/

• Audio (southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɪˈɹɑnə/, /pɪˈɹænə/, /pɪˈɹɑnjə/, /pɪˈɹænjə/

Noun

piranha (plural piranhas or piranha)

1. (ichthyology) Any of the carnivorous or frugivorous freshwater fish living in South American rivers and belonging to the subfamily Serrasalminae.

Derived terms

• piranha solution
• red-bellied piranha

Translations

South American fish

Arabic: بِيرَانَا‎ f (bīrānā) Assamese: পিৰানা (pirana) Belarusian: піра́ння f (piránnja) Bulgarian: пира́ня f (piránja) Catalan: piranya (ca) f Chamicuro: kas̈hajpa Chinese: Mandarin: 食人鯧／食人鲳 (shírénchāng), 水虎魚／水虎鱼 (zh) (shuǐhǔyú), 比拉魚／比拉鱼 (bǐlāyú), 食人魚／食人鱼 (shírényú) Czech: piraňa (cs) f Danish: piratfisk c Dutch: piranha (nl) Faroese: piranja Finnish: piraija (fi) French: piranha (fr) m German: Piranha m Greek: πιράνχας (el) (piránchas) Hebrew: פיראניה‎ f (pirana) Hindi: पिरान्हा (pirānhā) Hungarian: pirája, piranha (hu) Italian: piranha m Japanese: ピラニア (ja) (pirania) Korean: 피라냐 (ko) (piranya) Malay: ikan pirana, pirana Malayalam: പിരാന (pirāna) Norwegian: piraja Bokmål: piraja m Nynorsk: piraja m Persian: پیرانا‎ (pirânâ) Polish: pirania (pl) f Portuguese: piranha (pt) f Romanian: pirania f Russian: пира́нья (ru) f (piránʹja) Slovak: piraňa f Spanish: piraña (es) f Sranan Tongo: piren Swedish: piraya (sv) c Thai: ปลาปิรันยา (bplaa bpì-ran-yaa) Turkish: pirana (tr) Ukrainian: піра́нья f (piránʹja) Vietnamese: cá răng đao, cá piranha

References

1. “piranha”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
2. Britton, A. Scott. Guaraní: Guaraní-English, English-Guaraní ; concise dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books, 2005. Print.

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Cebuano

Etymology

From English piranha, from Old Tupi pirãia (“fish”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pi‧ran‧ha

Noun

piranha

1. a piranha

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pi.ʁa.na/, /pi.ʁa.ɲa/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

piranha m (plural piranhas)

1. piranha

Further reading

• “piranha”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Italian

Etymology

From Old Tupi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piˈraɲ.ɲa/
• Rhymes: -aɲɲa

Noun

piranha m (invariable)

1. piranha

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Tupi pirãia.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /piˈɾɐ̃.ɲɐ/ [piˈɾɐ̃.j̃ɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /piˈɾɐ̃.ɲɐ/ [piˈɾɐ̃.j̃ɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /piˈɾɐ.ɲa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /piˈɾɐ.ɲɐ/

• Hyphenation: pi‧ra‧nha

Noun

piranha f (plural piranhas)

1. piranha
2. (derogatory, vulgar, Brazil) slut

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vadia

Derived terms

• piranha-vermelha

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Romanian

Etymology

From French piranha.

Noun

piranha m (plural piranha)

1. piranha

Declension

Declension of piranha

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) piranha	piranhaul	(niște) piranha	piranhai
genitive/dative	(unui) piranha	piranhaului	(unor) piranha	piranhalor
vocative	piranhaule		piranhalor