bruja
Spanish
bruja
Etymology
Uncertain. Possibly from Iberian/Celtiberian *bruxtia (compare Catalan bruixa, Portuguese bruxa, Occitan bruèissa), from Proto-Celtic *brixtā (“spell, magic”) (compare Old Irish bricht (“charm”), Old Breton brith (“magic”)). It could instead be akin to a different Celtic word such as Old Irish Brigit (literally “high, exalted”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɾuxa/ [ˈbɾu.xa]
Audio (Colombia) (file) - Rhymes: -uxa
- Syllabification: bru‧ja
Noun
bruja f (plural brujas, masculine brujo, masculine plural brujos)
- witch, sorceress (woman who practices witchcraft)
- Synonyms: hechicera, maga
- specifically, a Wiccan
- crone, hag (ugly, evil-looking, or frightening old woman)
- owl (bird of prey of the order Strigiformes)
- Synonym: lechuza
- knifetooth dogfish (shark species Scymnodon ringens)
Hyponyms
- bruja malvada (“wicked witch”)
Derived terms
- brujería
- brujita
- caza de brujas
- garza bruja
- Noche de Brujas
Descendants
- → Cebuano: bruha
- → Tagalog: bruha
Further reading
- “brujo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014