menina

From Old Galician-Portuguese meninha, from meninho.

• Hyphenation: me‧ni‧na

menina f (plural meninas)

1. girl (female child)

   Synonyms: garota, (Portugal) rapariga, moça, miúda, cachopa

   Doutor, é menino ou menina?

   Doctor, is it a boy or a girl?

   • 1968, “A minha menina”, performed by Os Mutantes:

     Ela é minha menina / E eu sou o menino dela / Ela é o meu amor / E eu sou o amor todinho dela

     She is my girl / And I am her boy / She is my love / And I am her whole love.

2. young lady, miss (a title of respect for an unmarried young woman)

   Pode sentar-se aqui, menina.

   You may sit here, miss.

3. (derogatory) an effeminate boy
4. (Portugal, derogatory, usually in the plural) prostitute

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:prostituta

   Ele tornou-se frequentador assíduo de casas de meninas.

   He became a regular frequenter of houses of girls [brothels].

5. (colloquial or poetic) pupil (of the eye)

   Synonym: menina do olho

• → Spanish: menina

Borrowed from Portuguese menina (“girl”), from Old Galician-Portuguese meninha (“girl”), from meninho (“boy”).

• IPA^(key): /meˈnina/ [meˈni.na]
• Rhymes: -ina
• Syllabification: me‧ni‧na

menina f (plural meninas)

1. a court maid of honour

• Not to be confused with niña (“girl”).

• “menino”, 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