águila

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɡila/ [ˈa.ɣ̞i.la]

águila f (plural águiles)

1. alternative form of aigla

From Latin aquila.

águila f (plural águilas)

1. eagle

• aila

Borrowed from Malayalam അകിൽ (akil), from Sanskrit अगुरु (aguru, “light”).

• Rhymes: -aɡilɐ
• Hyphenation: á‧gui‧la

águila f (plural águilas)

1. agarwood

   Synonym: pau-de-águila

• “águila”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “águila”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Inherited from Old Spanish aguila, from Latin aquila. Cognate with French aigle, Italian aquila, Portuguese águia and Romanian aceră.

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɡila/ [ˈa.ɣ̞i.la]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɡila
• Syllabification: á‧gui‧la

águila f (plural águilas)

1. eagle
2. (heraldry) eagle
3. (figurative) crack; whizz; shrewd person
   • 1926, Roberto Arlt, “Los ladrones”, in El juguete rabioso:

     Cuando indirectamente se le hacía reconocer su condición, él replicaba con mansedumbre pascual que su esposa padecía de los nervios, y ante argumentos de tal solidez científica, no cabía sino el silencio.
     Sin embargo, para sus intereses era un águila.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Before feminine nouns beginning with stressed /ˈa/ like águila, the singular definite article takes the form of el (otherwise reserved for masculine nouns) instead of the usual la: el águila. This includes the contracted forms al and del (instead of a la and de la, respectively): al águila, del águila.

This also applies to the indefinite article, which takes the form of un, which is otherwise used with masculine nouns (although the standard feminine form una also occurs): un águila or una águila. The same is true with determiners algún/alguna and ningún/ninguna, as well as for numerals ending with 1 (e.g., veintiún/veintiuna).

However, if another word intervenes between the article and the noun, the usual feminine singular articles and determiners (la, una etc.) are used: la mejor águila, una buena águila.

• In these cases, el and un are not masculine but feminine, deriving from Latin illa and una, respectively, even though they are identical in form to the corresponding masculine singular articles. Thus, they are allomorphs of the feminine singular articles la and una.
• The use of these allomorphs does not change the gender agreement of the adjectives modifying the feminine noun: el águila única, un(a) águila buena.
• In the plural, the usual feminine plural articles and determiners (las, unas, etc.) are always used.

• → Cebuano: agila
• → Hiligaynon: agila
• → Tagalog: agila

• “águila”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024