macau

Portuguese

Alternative forms

  • macao (pre-standardization spelling)

Etymology

Unknown. Displaced by arara, from Old Tupi.

Pronunciation

  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /maˈkaw/ [maˈkaʊ̯]

  • Rhymes: -aw
  • Homophone: Macau
  • Hyphenation: ma‧cau

Noun

macau m (plural macaus)

  1. (obsolete) macaw [16th–17th c.]
    Synonyms: arara, ará
    • 1590–1596, Francisco Soares, “Cap. Das aues. Araras”, in De alguãs Cousas mais notaueis do brasil e de alguñs costumes dos Indios [Of some of Brazil's most notable things and some Indian customs], page 49; republished as Antônio Geraldo da Cunha, compiler, Coisas Notáveis do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro: INL, 1966, page 127, lines 1273-1288:
      He hũ genero de papagajo q' chamaõ os portuguezes macao saõ v'melhos e amarelos e azuis saõ grandes como grãdes gauioẽs e o Rabo tem as penas da mesma cor dalgũs 2 palmos de cõprido. falaõ bẽ claro e voz grossa
      It's a kind of parrot that the Portuguese call “macaws”. They are red, yellow and blue, are as big as big hawks and their tails has feathers of the same color, about 2 spans long. They speak clearly with a deep voice.
    • a. 1625, Fernão Cardim, chapter IV, in Do clima e terra do Brasil; republished in Rodolfo Garcia, editor, Tratados da terra e gente do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro: J. Leite & Cia, 1925, page 51:
      Este Macao he muito formoso: he todo preto espargido de verde, que lhe dá muita graça […]
      This macaw is very beautiful: it's all black sprinkled with green, making it very gracious.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → English: macaw
  • → Italian: macao
  • → Translingual: Ara macao

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.