niño – Wiktionary

Galician

[

edit

]

Alternative forms

[

edit

]

Etymology

[

edit

]

From Old Galician and Old Portuguese *nio, from Latin nīdus (“nest”), from Proto-Italic *nizdos (“nest”), from Proto-Indo-European *nisdós (“nest”).

Pronunciation

[

edit

]

Noun

[

edit

]

niño m (plural niños)

1. nest
   • 1894, Luís Otero Pimentel, Truada de rapaces:

     Dempois vin dúas lavandeiras que depenicaban unha espiga de trigo na leira de Xan de Pedreira, unha pomba que voaba pró souto de Fonte Boa, unha péga que fuxía de un lagarteiro, catro corvos que espaturraban un canciño morto na carballeira, un melro que asubiaba entre as follas dun cereixo, un carpinteiro que facía o burato pró seu niño; e unha laverca que rebulía no aire, con unha miñoquiña no pico.

     After this I saw two wagtails which were pecking a wheat spike at the field of Xan de Pedreira, a dove flying to the wood of Fonte Boa, a magpie fleeing from a kestrel, four ravens which were clawing at a dead pup at the oak grove, a blackbird whistling in the leaves of a cherry tree, a woodpecker making the hole of its nest; and a lark fluttering in the air with a little earthworm in its beak.

References

[

edit

]

• “nyno” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI – ILGA 2006–2022.
• “nyno” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez – Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “niño” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI – ILGA 2006–2013.
• “niño” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “niño” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Spanish

[

edit

]

Etymology

[

edit

]

From Vulgar Latin *ninnus, probably imitative of infantile language; also could have originated from Latin minimus. Compare also Italian nino and Sicilian nicu. Compare English nun for an English word that is formed similarly from imitative origin of infantile speech, as well as possibly nanny and nana.

Pronunciation

[

edit

]

• IPA(key):

  /ˈniɲo/

  ,

  [ˈni.ɲo]

• Audio

Noun

[

edit

]

niño m (plural niños, feminine niña, feminine plural niñas) (diminutive niñito)

Usage notes

[

edit

]

The noun niño is like most Spanish nouns with a human referent. The masculine forms are used when the referent is known to be male, a group of males, a group of mixed or unknown gender, or an individual of unknown or unspecified gender. The feminine forms are used if the referent is known to be female or a group of females. See also the gender-neutral neologism niñe/niñes.

Derived terms

[

edit

]

See also

[

edit

]

Further reading

[

edit

]

• “niño”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014