girafa

See also: Girafa, ĝirafa, and girafă

Catalan

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-der.?

Classical Persian سرنا

Proto-Indo-European *ped-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *pṓds

Proto-Indo-Iranian *pā́ts

Proto-Iranian *pā́dah

Old Persian 𐎱𐎠𐎭 (p-a-d)

Classical Persian پَا (pā)

Classical Persian زُرْنَاپَا (zurnāpā)bor.

Classical Syriac ܙܪܝܦܐbor.

Arabic زُرَافَة (zurāfa)bor.

Italian giraffabor.

Middle French giraffe

French girafebor.

Catalan girafa

Borrowed from French girafe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ʒiˈɾa.fə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [d͡ʒiˈɾa.fa]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

girafa f (plural girafes)

1. giraffe
2. boom (microphone support)

Further reading

• “girafa” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Galician

Noun

girafa f (plural girafas, reintegrationist norm)

1. reintegrationist spelling of xirafa

Further reading

• “girafa” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).

Portuguese

Girafa (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-der.?

Classical Persian سرنا

Proto-Indo-European *ped-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *pṓds

Proto-Indo-Iranian *pā́ts

Proto-Iranian *pā́dah

Old Persian 𐎱𐎠𐎭 (p-a-d)

Classical Persian پَا (pā)

Classical Persian زُرْنَاپَا (zurnāpā)bor.

Classical Syriac ܙܪܝܦܐbor.

Arabic زُرَافَة (zurāfa)bor.

Italian giraffabor.

Portuguese girafa

Borrowed from Italian giraffa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒiˈɾa.fɐ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -afɐ
• Hyphenation: gi‧ra‧fa

Noun

girafa f (plural girafas)

1. giraffe (any animal of the genus Giraffa)

   Synonym: (archaic) camelopárdale

2. (by extension, rare) giraffid (any animal of the Giraffidae family)

   Synonym: girafídeo

3. (Brazil, figurative, colloquial) giraffe (very tall or long-necked individual)
4. (Brazil, film, television) boom (movable pole used to support a microphone or camera)

   Synonyms: bum, percha

5. (music) Ellipsis of piano girafa (“giraffe piano”)

Usage notes

• The gender of this Portuguese zoonym is always feminine: when the gender of the being itself must be specified, use “girafa macho” for male, and “girafa fêmea” for female. Here, macho is treated as an undeclinable noun and don't necessarily need to agree in gender with the referent, but would change to macha if so.

Related terms

• girafa-da-somália
• girafa-masai
• girafa-núbia
• girafa-reticulada
• girafa-sul-africana

Descendants

• → Hunsrik: Schiraff

References

• “girafa”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “girafa”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “girafa”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “girafa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒiˈrafa/

Noun

girafa f

1. definite nominative singular of girafă