niño

Alternative forms

• nin, nío
• ninho (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese *nio, from Latin nīdus (“nest”), from Proto-Italic *nizdos (“nest”), from Proto-Indo-European *nisdós (“nest”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈniɲo/ [ˈnĩ.ɲʊ]
• Rhymes: -iɲo
• Hyphenation: ni‧ño

Noun

niño m (plural niños)

1. nest
   • 1894, Luís Otero Pimentel, Truada de rapaces:

     Dempois vin dúas lavandeiras que depenicaban unha espiga de trigo na leira de Xan de Pedreira, unha pomba que voaba pró souto de Fonte Boa, unha péga que fuxía de un lagarteiro, catro corvos que espaturraban un canciño morto na carballeira, un melro que asubiaba entre as follas dun cereixo, un carpinteiro que facía o burato pró seu niño; e unha laverca que rebulía no aire, con unha miñoquiña no pico.

     After this I saw two wagtails which were pecking a wheat spike at the field of Xan de Pedreira, a dove flying to the wood of Fonte Boa, a magpie fleeing from a kestrel, four ravens which were clawing at a dead pup at the oak grove, a blackbird whistling in the leaves of a cherry tree, a woodpecker making the hole of its nest; and a lark fluttering in the air with a little earthworm in its beak.

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “nyno”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “nyno”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “niño”, 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), “niño”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “niño”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *ninnus, probably imitative of infantile language; also could have originated from Latin minimus. Compare also Italian nino and Sicilian nicu. Compare English nun for an English word that is formed similarly from imitative origin of infantile speech, as well as possibly nanny and nana.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈniɲo/ [ˈni.ɲo]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɲo
• Syllabification: ni‧ño

Noun

niño m (plural niños, feminine niña, feminine plural niñas) (diminutive niñito)

1. child, boy

   Synonyms: chaval, chavo, chico, huerco, infante

   Antonym: adulto

Further reading

• “niño”, 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