mikura
Nheengatu
Etymology
Inherited from Old Tupi mykura, from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *mɨkur.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /miˈku.ra/, [mɨˈku.ɾɐ]
- Rhymes: -ura
- Hyphenation: mi‧ku‧ra
Noun
mikura (plural mikura-itá)
- manicou (Didelphis marsupialis)
- Synonym: mikurawasú
- 1876, “Micura Apgua [The opossum and the man]” (chapter XV), in José Vieira Couto de Magalhães, compiler, O Selvagem [The Wild], volume 1, Rio de Janeiro: Typ. da Reforma, page 244:
- Mi̙cúra ũiạ̃ia (unhana) iui̙re iai̙ti̙ua rupí, oçọ́ oienõ tenoné pépe. Apgáua oci̙ka onhehẽ:—Auáta oiucá-íucá quahá mi̙cura itá? Omuti̙ríca ahé pê çuí, oçọ́ ãna
- The opossum ran again through the shrubs and laid further on the road. The man approached it and said: “Who keeps killing these opossums?”. He took it away from the road and left.
- (loosely) opossum (any marsupial of the family Didelphidae)
- mikura-mirĩ
- woolly opossum (Caluromys)
- (literally, “small opossum”)
- (figurative, derogatory) liar (person who frequently lies)
- (figurative, derogatory) a cocky person
Derived terms
- mikura-amana
- mikura-kaá
- mikura-maniiwa
- mikura-mirĩ
- mikura-rapiá
- mikura-xixika
- mikurawasú
- piranha-mikura
Descendants
- → Brazilian Portuguese: mucura, micura