zorra
Galician
Etymology
From zorro.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈθora̝/, (western) /ˈsora̝/
Adjective
zorra
- feminine singular of zorro
Noun
zorra f (plural zorras)
- sled, sledge for hauling loads
- wagon (four-wheeled cart for hauling loads)
References
- “zorra” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “zorra” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “zorra” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈzo.ʁɐ/ [ˈzo.hɐ]
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ˈzo.ʁɐ/ [ˈzo.χɐ]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈzo.ʁa/ [ˈzo.ha]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈzo.ʁɐ/
- Hyphenation: zor‧ra
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
zorra f (plural zorras)
- sledge, dray
Etymology 2
Unknown. Compare Spanish zorra.
Noun
zorra f (plural zorras)
- an old fox
- a plodder
- (colloquial, Brazil) a mess
- (colloquial, derogatory, regional)
Spanish
Etymology
First attested in the 15th century. Of unclear origin: perhaps from an unknown pre-Roman language, or perhaps from Basque azari/azeri (“fox”) (a third suggestion, which holds that the term derives from onomatopoeia, is considered "far from convincing" and "unprovable").[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Spain) /ˈθora/ [ˈθo.ra]
- IPA(key): (Latin America) /ˈsora/ [ˈso.ra]
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ora
- Syllabification: zo‧rra
Noun
zorra f (plural zorras)
- female equivalent of zorro; vixen; female fox
- (colloquial) slut, prostitute
- (colloquial) bitch (despicable or disagreeable, aggressive person, usually a woman)
- (colloquial) an attractive woman
- (colloquial) a cunning woman
- (colloquial) drunkenness
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:borrachera
Derived terms
- atún de zorra
- cola de zorra
Adjective
zorra f sg
- feminine singular of zorro
References
- 2012, A History of the Spanish Lexicon: A Linguistic Perspective →ISBN, page 39: "The initial attestations of Sp. zorro/zorra 'fox' are from the mid fifteenth century and appear almost exclusively in the feminine, employed in cancionero poetry, with reference to idle, immoral women (cf. mod. zorra 'prostitute'). […] DCECH may well be right in stating that zorro/zorra secondarily became a euphemistic designation for the dreaded fox (cf. raposo so used). […] The late initial documentation of zorro leads to the question [of] whether this word goes back to early Roman Spain or whether it is a later borrowing from Basque, a derivation, as noted above, challenged by Trask (1997: 421). Far from convincing is the unprovable hypothesis in DCECH that zorro goes back to a verb zorrar (whose authenticity I have been unable to verify), allegedly on onomatopoeic origin."
Further reading
- “zorro”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014