cobaia

Galician

Noun

cobaia f (plural cobaias)

  1. guinea pig

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Tupi çobaîa (foreign), from a clipping of Old Tupi saûîasobaîa (guinea pig, literally “foreign tree rat”). The change of ⟨ç⟩ (pronounced /s/) to ⟨c⟩ (pronounced /k/) is irregular and likely stems from a misreading or misprint. Compare Spanish cobaya.

The figurative sense is likely a semantic loan from English guinea pig.

Pronunciation

 
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /koˈbaj.ɐ/ [koˈbaɪ̯.ɐ]
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /koˈbaj.a/ [koˈbaɪ̯.a]
  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /kuˈbaj.ɐ/ [kuˈβaj.ɐ]

  • Rhymes: -ajɐ
  • Hyphenation: co‧bai‧a

Noun

cobaia f (plural cobaias)

  1. synonym of porquinho-da-índia
  2. (figuratively) guinea pig (volunteer for an experiment)

Descendants

  • → French: cobaye
    • → Romanian: cobai
    • → Ottoman Turkish: قوبای (kobay)
  • → Galician: cobaia
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