sanguessuga

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sanguisūga (literally “bloodsucker”), from sanguis (“blood”) + sūgō (“suck”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌsɐ̃.ɡiˈsu.ɡɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌsɐ̃.ɡiˈsu.ɡɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌsɐ̃.ɡeˈsu.ɡa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌsɐ̃.ɡɨˈsu.ɡɐ/ [ˌsɐ̃.ɡɨˈsu.ɣɐ]

• Rhymes: -uɡɐ
• Hyphenation: san‧gues‧su‧ga

Noun

sanguessuga f or (nonstandard) m (plural sanguessugas)

1. leech (aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea)

   Synonym: hirudíneo

Related terms

• sangue
• sugar

Noun

sanguessuga m or f by sense (plural sanguessugas)

1. (figurative, derogatory) leech (person who derives profit from others)

References

• “sanguessuga”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “sanguessuga”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
• “sanguessuga”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “sanguessuga”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025