tatouay
English
Etymology
From a compound word in a Tupi-Guarani language (compare tatu-ai),[1][2] of which the first element is ultimately from Old Tupi tatu (“armadillo”). Compare Portuguese tatu, French tatou. The second element (ay or ai) may mean "wound" because of a belief that its fat was used on wounds,[1][2] or "colored",[3] or "worthless".[4]
Noun
tatouay (plural tatouays)
- An armadillo (Cabassous tatouay), native to tropical South America; the broad-banded armadillo.
Further reading
- “tatouay”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “tatouay”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- Webster's Secondary-School Dictionary (1913)
- Rubén Bareiro Saguier, León Cadogan, Literatura guaraní del Paraguay (1980, →ISBN), page 28
- The Chambers Dictionary (1998, →ISBN)
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