beija-mão

Portuguese

Etymology

Literally, “hand kisser”, from beijar (“to kiss”) +‎ mão (“hand”).

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌbe(j).ʒɐˈmɐ̃w̃/ [ˌbe(ɪ̯).ʒɐˈmɐ̃ʊ̯̃]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌbe(j).ʒaˈmɐ̃w̃/ [ˌbe(ɪ̯).ʒaˈmɐ̃ʊ̯̃]

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌbɐj.ʒɐˈmɐ̃w̃/
- (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌbej.ʒɐˈmɐ̃w̃/
- (Central Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌbej.ʒɐˈmɐ̃w̃/
- (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌbe.ʒɐˈmɐ̃w̃/

Hyphenation: bei‧ja‧-mão

Noun

beija-mão m (plural beija-mãos)

hand-kissing

Related terms

Further reading

“beija-mão”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025