colmillo

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin columellus (“canine tooth, tusk”) (attested in Isidore of Seville), masculine variant of columella (literally “small column, pillar”), diminutive of columna (“column”). Used Classically to refer to the grinding teeth of horses in Varro and Pliny in the form columellārēs dentēs (literally “pillar-formed teeth”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kolˈmiʝo/ [kolˈmi.ʝo]

• IPA^(key): (most of Spain and Latin America) /kolˈmiʝo/ [kolˈmi.ʝo]
• IPA^(key): (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines) /kolˈmiʎo/ [kolˈmi.ʎo]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /kolˈmiʃo/ [kolˈmi.ʃo]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /kolˈmiʒo/ [kolˈmi.ʒo]

 

• Rhymes: -iʝo

• Rhymes: -iʝo
• Rhymes: -iʎo
• Rhymes: -iʃo
• Rhymes: -iʒo

• Syllabification: col‧mi‧llo

Noun

colmillo m (plural colmillos)

1. (teeth) canine tooth
2. tusk, fang

Derived terms

• colmilludo
• enseñar los colmillos

Related terms

• colmo
• columna

See also

• diente
• muela

Further reading

• “colmillo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10