madriguera

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin mātrīcāria (“related to the womb”), from Latin mātrīx (“womb”). The semantic development could mirror the one in cunīculus (“underground tunnel; rabbit”) if indeed related to cunnus (“vagina”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /madɾiˈɡeɾa/ [ma.ð̞ɾiˈɣ̞e.ɾa]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾa
• Syllabification: ma‧dri‧gue‧ra

Noun

madriguera f (plural madrigueras)

1. burrow, den, sett, warren

   Synonyms: guarida, cubil

   • 2022 October 9, Manuel Viejo, Elisa Silió, “El difícil camino para que no se repitan los gritos del Ahuja: “Sois unas pedazo de mierdas. ¡Putas!””, in El País‎^[1]:

     Embravecido, se asoma y como si fuera una jirafa, saca el cuello por la ventana para vociferar: “¡Putas, salid de vuestras madrigueras como conejas! […] ”

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. hideout, hiding place
3. den (for criminals)

Related terms

• matriz

 

See also

• ratonera

Further reading

• “madriguera”, 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