tatumirĩ

Old Tupi

Etymology

    From tatu (“armadillo”) +‎ mirĩ (“small”).

    Noun

    tatumirĩ (unpossessable)

    1. (hapax legomenon) Brazilian three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes trincinctus)
      Synonym: tatuapara
      • [1587, Gabriel Soares de Sousa, chapter CII, in Notícia do Brasil (in Portuguese), Salvador; republished as Francisco Adolpho de Varnhagen, editor, Tratado descriptivo do Brazil em 1587, 2nd edition, Rio de Janeiro: João Ignancio da Silva, 1879, page 231:
        Ha uma casta de tatús pequenos da feição dos grandes, os quaes tem as mesmas manhas e condição; mas quando se temem de lhe fazerem mal, fazem-se em uma bola toda coberta em redondo com suas armas, onde ficam mettidos sem lhes apparecer cousa alguma; cuja carne é muito boa; comem e criam como os grandes. A estes chamam tatúmerim.
        There is a species of small armadillos the same aspect of the bigger ones, with the same behaviours and condition; but when they are threatened, they turn into a ball, all covered up with their armour, where they remain tucked in without showing anything; their meat is very good; they eat and live like the bigger ones. They call these ones “tatumirĩ”.]

    Descendants

    • Nheengatu: tatú-mirĩ
    • → Brazilian Portuguese: tatu-mirim

    Further reading

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