macana

See also: maçana

English

Etymology

From Taíno macana.

Noun

macana (plural macanas)

1. A wooden sword-like weapon of various native cultures of Central America and South America.

Related terms

• macahuitl

Translations

sword

• Japanese: マカナ (makana)

Anagrams

• manaca

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈt͡sa.na/
• Rhymes: -ana
• Syllabification: ma‧ca‧na

Participle

macana

1. feminine nominative/vocative singular of macany

Spanish

FWOTD – 3 June 2015

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈkana/ [maˈka.na]
• Rhymes: -ana
• Syllabification: ma‧ca‧na

Etymology 1

From Taíno macana.

Noun

macana f (plural macanas)

1. a type of long club, sometimes studded with sharp pieces of rock, used by the natives of America
   • 1997, Manuel Alvar Ezquerra, Vocabulario de indigenismos en las Crónias de Indias, CSIC, page 231:

     Una casa grande llena de lanzas, arcos, flechas, macanas y otras armas que usaban en sus guerras aquellos indios.

     A big house full of spears, bows, arrows, macanas and other weapons those indians used in their wars.

2. (Americas, Latin America) baton, nightstick
   • 1970, Carlos Monsiváis, Días de guardar, Ediciones Era, page 265:

     Se dejaron venir los granaderos con escudos y macanas.

     The grenadiers came with shields and batons.

3. (uncountable) the wood of the peach palm
   • 2003, Hernando Forero Caballero, Fundamentos sociológicos de la medicina primitiva, Academia Nacional de Medicina, page 53:

     Las figuras antropomorfas de madera representaban los espíritus tutelares de los niños o de los adultos y las de balso o macana eran empleadas para curaciones, una para cada enfermedad.

     The anthropomorphic wooden figures represented the tutelar spirits of children or adults and those made of balsa or peach palm were used in healings, one for each ailment.

4. (Argentina, Peru, Uruguay) an unpleasant situation
   • 2005, Lucio A. Mansilla, Los mirmidones, Dunken, page 65:

     Es una macana, este asunto me huele a revolución.

     It is bad situation, this affair reeks of revolution.

5. (Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, colloquial) lie; nonsense, claptrap, tosh
   • 1904, Florencio Sánchez, La gringa‎^[1]:

     ¡Déjese de macanas, viejo!

     Cut the crap, dad!

6. (Costa Rica, El Savador, Honduras, Nicaragua) a farm tool used to dig small holes
   • 1979, Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Enseñanza, Vocabulario de indigenismos en las Crónias de Indias, page 6:

     La siembra es realizada con arado de bueyes, con macana o chuzo y al voleo, en este último caso principalmente el sorgo.

     The sowing is done using a plough pulled by oxen, using macanas or chuzos and by casting, this last one is used especially for sorghum.

7. a baluster of a balcony’s balustrade
8. (Mexico) prick, cock

Derived terms

• macanazo
• macanear
• macanudo

Etymology 2

Uncertain.

Noun

macana f (plural macanas)

1. a type of thin cotton shawl worn by mestizo women in Bolivia and Ecuador

Further reading

• “macana”, 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

Taíno

Noun

macana

1. wooden club