cadejo

Spanish

Etymology

Cross of cadarzo (“floss”) and madeja (“skein, ball of yarn”). The first word is from Ancient Greek ἀκάθαρτος (akáthartos, “unclean”).

Noun

cadejo m (plural cadejos)

1. tangle (of hair)
2. a supernatural spirit, dog-shaped creature with red eyes, that would increase size when assaulted, wanders the isolated roads at night

Further reading

• “cadejo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
• Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN