pulga

Asturian

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *pūlica, from Latin pūlex (“flea”).

Noun

pulga f (plural pulgues)

1. flea (a small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities)

Galician

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese pulga, from the hypothetical Vulgar Latin *pūlica, from Latin pūlex (“flea”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈpulɡa/ [ˈpuɫ.ɣ̞ɐ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈpulɡa/ [ˈpuɫ.ɣ̞ɐ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada) /ˈpulħa/ [ˈpuɫ.ħɐ]

 

• Rhymes: -ulɡa

• Rhymes: -ulɡa
• Rhymes: -ulħa

• Hyphenation: pul‧ga

Noun

pulga f (plural pulgas)

1. flea (a small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities)
2. sand flea; sandhopper

   Synonyms: pulga da area, piollo pato

References

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “pulga”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “pulga”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “pulga”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “pulga”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Ladino

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish pulga, from Vulgar Latin *pūlica, from Latin pūlex (whence English puce), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plúsis.

Noun

pulga f (Hebrew spelling פולגה)

1. flea (a small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities)
   • 1982, Enrique Saporta y Beja, En torno de la torre blanca‎^[1], Editions Vidas Largas, page 221:

     La limpyeza era el fetcho de una banda de perros errantes, flakos i yenos de pulgas ke se kargavan de desbarasar los montones de suzyeda.

     Cleanliness was in a pack of stray dogs’ [best] interest, as they were weak and lousy from so much filth.

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *pūlica, from Latin pūlex (“flea”). Cognate with Old Spanish pulga.

Noun

pulga f (plural pulgas)

1. flea (a small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities)

Descendants

• Galician: pulga
• Portuguese: pulga

References

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “pulga”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “pulga”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Old Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *pūlica, from Latin pūlex (“flea”). Cognate with Old Galician-Portuguese pulga.

Noun

pulga f (plural pulgas)

1. flea (a small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities)
   • ca. 1320, Juan Manuel, Libro del cavallero et del escudero:

     los piojos las pulgas et las çismes et las formigas et sus semejantes

     lice, fleas, bedbugs, ants, and the like

Descendants

• Ladino: pulga, פולגה
• Spanish: pulga

Portuguese

pulga

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese pulga, from the hypothetical Vulgar Latin *pūlica, from Latin pūlex (“flea”), from Proto-Indo-European *plúsis (“flea”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpuw.ɡɐ/ [ˈpuʊ̯.ɡɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpuw.ɡɐ/ [ˈpuʊ̯.ɡɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpuw.ɡa/ [ˈpuʊ̯.ɡa]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpul.ɡɐ/ [ˈpuɫ.ɣɐ]

• Hyphenation: pul‧ga

Noun

pulga f (plural pulgas)

1. flea (a small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities)

   Synonyms: púlex, pulgo, púlice, sifonáptero

Derived terms

• antipulgas
• mercado das pulgas
• pulga atrás da orelha
• pulga-comum
• pulga-d'água
• pulga-d'anta
• pulga-de-água
• pulga-de-anta
• pulga-de-areia
• pulga-do-mar
• pulga-penetrante
• pulgão-branco
• pulgão-lanígero

Related terms

• pulgão
• pulgo
• pulgoso
• pulguedo
• pulgueira
• pulgueiro
• pulguento

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish pulga, from Vulgar Latin *pūlica, from Latin pūlex (whence English puce), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plúsis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpulɡa/ [ˈpul.ɣ̞a]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ulɡa
• Syllabification: pul‧ga

Noun

pulga f (plural pulgas, diminutive pulguita)

1. flea (a small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities)
2. (US, colloquial) flea market

   Synonyms: mercado de las pulgas, rastrillo, mercadillo

3. (Spain) small sandwich; filled bread roll
4. (uncountable) tiddlywinks

   Synonyms: juego de la pulga, pulga saltarina

Derived terms

• a perro flaco, todo son pulgas
• buscar las pulgas
• cada quien tiene su manera de matar pulgas
• hacer de una pulga un camello
• hacer de una pulga un elefante
• juego de la pulga
• mercado de pulgas
• pulga saltarina
• pulgoso
• pulguicida
• pulguiento
• tener malas pulgas

See also

• garrapata (“tick”)

Further reading

• “pulga”, 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