quetzal

See also: Quetzal

English

A resplendent quetzal

Etymology

From Spanish quetzal, from Classical Nahuatl quetzalli (“brightly colored tail feather, quetzal feather”), from quetza (“to raise, lift”); see also Classical Nahuatl quetzaltōtōtl (“quetzal bird”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛt.səl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛt.səl/, /kɛtˈsɑl/
• Rhymes: -ɛtsəl, (US) -ɑl

Noun

quetzal (plural quetzals or quetzales)

1. Any trogon of the genus Pharomacrus, especially the resplendent quetzal, Pharomacrus mocinno, which has very long tail feathers and is found in Guatemala and Costa Rica.
   • 1997, Ann Marie Stock, Framing Latin American Cinema: Contemporary Critical Perspectives, page 80:

     Included among the images that Rigoberta Menchú uses in order to subtly convey her people's ethnicity is an image of Guatemala as the "land of the quetzal."

   • 1999, Sy Barlowe, Learning about Rain Forest Animals, page 12:

     A strikingly beautiful bird, the quetzal is the national emblem of Guatemala, appearing on its currency and postage. The quetzal ranges from southern Mexico to Costa Rica.

   • 2005, Eric Dinerstein, Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations, page 65:

     This particular wild avocado species had beautiful small black fruits set in a red cap that made it easy for the quetzals to find them.

2. A monetary unit used in Guatemala, equal to 100 centavos.
   • 2005, Anastasia Xenias, “Dollarization: The End of Monetary Pluralism in South America?”, in Avery Plaw, editor, Frontiers of Diversity: Explorations in Contemporary Pluralism, page 109:

     In 2002 Guatemala officially declared the U.S. dollar as legal tender to circulate in parallel to the national currency, the quetzal. This is not likely to last for long as the quetzal is not widely accepted and is considered a weak store of value.

   • 2005, International Monetary Fund, Guatemala: 2005 Article IV Consultation - Staff Report, unnumbered page:

     In this situation, they chose a policy mix of moderate monetary tightening, tight fiscal policy, and central bank intervention in the foreign exchange market to prevent excessive appreciation of the quetzal, without pursuing an exchange rate target […] .

   • 2007, Charles Enoch, Karl Habermeier, Marta de Castello Branco, editors, Building Monetary and Financial Systems: Case Studies in Technical Assistance, International Monetary Fund, page 105:

     To cope with the subsequent mounting pressures on the domestic currency, the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat) started to intervene in the foreign exchange market to moderate the quetzal depreciation and tightened monetary policy.

Translations

quetzal bird

• Catalan: quetzal m
• Central Huasteca Nahuatl: ketsaltototl
• Classical Nahuatl: quetzaltototl
• Czech: kvesal m
• Dutch: quetzal (nl) m
• Finnish: ketsaali (fi)
• French: quetzal (fr) m, couroucou royal m
• German: Quetzal m
• K'iche': q’uq’
• Mam: q’uq’
• Marathi: केट्जाल (keṭjāl)
• Navajo: biʼééʼ dootłʼizhgo disxǫsígíí
• Pipil: ketzal
• Polish: kwezal m, quetzal (pl) m
• Romanian: quetzal (ro) m, cuezal m
• Spanish: quetzal (es) m
• Yucatec Maya: kuk, kukuul

monetary unit

• Catalan: quetzal m
• Dutch: quetzal (nl) m
• Finnish: quetzal (fi)
• French: quetzal (fr) m
• German: Quetzal m
• Marathi: केट्जाल (keṭjāl)
• Polish: quetzal (pl) m
• Romanian: quetzal (ro) m
• Spanish: quetzal (es) m
• Ukrainian: кетсаль (uk) m (ketsalʹ)

See also

• centavo
• Quetzalcoatl

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

quetzal m (plural quetzaux)

1. quetzal (bird)
2. quetzal (currency)

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish quetzal, from Classical Nahuatl quetzalli. Doublet of kwezal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛˈt͡sal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: que‧tzal

Noun

quetzal m animal

1. quetzal (currency of Guatemala)
2. quetzal (any bird of the genus Pharomachrus)

   Synonym: kwezal

Declension

Declension of quetzal

	singular	plural
nominative	quetzal	quetzale
genitive	quetzala	quetzali
dative	quetzalowi	quetzalom
accusative	quetzala	quetzale
instrumental	quetzalem	quetzalami
locative	quetzalu	quetzalach
vocative	quetzalu	quetzale

Further reading

• quetzal in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish quetzal.

Noun

quetzal m (uncountable)

1. quetzal

Declension

declension of quetzal (singular only)

	singular
m gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) quetzal	quetzalul
genitive/dative	(unui) quetzal	quetzalului
vocative	quetzalule

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl quetzalli (“quetzal feather”). The term for the quetzal bird proper was quetzaltōtōtl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ketˈθal/ [ket̪ˈθal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /keˈtsal/ [keˈt̪sal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: que‧tzal

Noun

quetzal m (plural quetzales)

1. quetzal (bird)
2. quetzal (monetary unit)

Related terms

• Quetzalcóatl
• Quetzaltenango

 

Descendants

• → Catalan: quetzal
• → English: quetzal
• → French: quetzal
• → German: Quetzal

See also

• trogón

Further reading

• “quetzal”, 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