Ña, Ñe, Ñi, Ño, Ñu! 23 Spanish Words That Start with Ñ You Never Knew Existed The palabrasque.com search option lists 13,589 Spanish words containing the letter ñ. Plus, over 350 of them actually star

Accedi

Raciel Hernández 💫

Insegnante professionista

Ña, Ñe, Ñi, Ño, Ñu! 23 Spanish Words That Start with Ñ You Never Knew Existed

The palabrasque.com search option lists 13,589 Spanish words containing the letter ñ. Plus, over 350 of them actually start with this letter. That’s a whole lot of words for a letter that did not even exist in Latin!

But let’s be real. The letter ñ is not in the “top three most important and most often used letters in the Spanish language” list, though we native speakers love it.

Ña (Mrs.)

The form Ña is a shortened version of the word Doña, used in front of the names of elderly women. Ña is especially used in rural South America.

Ño (Mr.)

A shortened version of Señor, used in front of the name of elderly men in rural South America.

Ñu (Wildebeest, Gnu)

This is one of the words in this list almost every Spanish-speaking person knows.

Ñoño (Bland, Dull, Blah, Boring, Drippy, Namby-pamby)

Ñoño is another word that is very commonly used, especially in Spain.

It can refer to both things and people, and it has quite a wide range of meanings, but they all have something in common: blandness, boredom, lack of life.

Ñaño (Close Friend, Spoiled, Homosexual, Brother, Kid)

According to the DRAE, ñaño can be used as an adjective and <a href="https://www.fluentu.com/blog/spanish/spanish-nouns/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(28, 172, 236);">a noun</a>.

I had personally never heard of it before, but apparently it is widely used in some South American countries:

Ñato (Pug-nosed, Boxer)

Even though I normally do not use this word myself, having grown up <a href="https://www.fluentu.com/blog/spanish/best-telenovelas-for-learning-spanish/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(28, 172, 236);">watching telenovelas</a> made the word ñato a common one since I was a child.

Ñuzco (The Devil)

This is how people in Honduras call the devil.

Ñoñez / Ñoñería (Inanity, Isipidness, Spinelessness)

Both these words are nouns that come from the word ñoño (see above). They are both used to refer to people who either are ñoño or act like one.

Ñoqui (Gnocchi)

Right here you can see the love we have for “Spanishizing” every word we can. The whole world pronounces this word practically the same, but we decided to also write it in Spanish.

Ñongo (Intrusive, Indiscreet)

This word is used mainly in Cuba to refer to a person who wants to know way too much.

Ñaque (Junk)

This is one of the words in this list that is not very commonly used anymore.

It originally referred to a touring theater company consisting of only two people.

Ñandú (Rhea)

The ñandú is the second animal on this list.

Ñáñara (Laziness)

Ñáñara is an amazing word with two ñ’s and it is a colloquial way of saying pereza (laziness) in Honduras.

Ñomblo (Obese)

The word ñomblo is how Nicaraguan people say obeso (obese).

Ñatear (To Snort)

Here’s one word you should only know in theory: ñatear.

Ñatear is how they say esnifar (to snort) in Nicaragua.

Ñangazo (Bite)

A ñangazo is a mordisco (bite) in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Pay attention to the ending -azo, which is a Spanish suffix mainly used as an augmentative.

Ñamería (Madness)

I have loved this word ever since I heard it for the first time. They use it in Panama to say locura (madness), as in when someone loses their mind.

¡Qué ñamería! (What a madness!)

Ñandubay (A Type of Tree in the Pea Family)

The ñandubay (Latin name prosopis affinis) is a flowering tree of the pea family native to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Ñampearse / Ñampeado (To Go Crazy / Crazy)

Ñampearse is a pronominal verb used colloquially in Panama to say someone has gone crazy (has lost their mind).

The past participle ñampeado is normally used as an adjective meaning loco (crazy).

Ñacurutú (Great Horned Owl)

The last animal on this list in the great horned owl, a.k.a. the ñacurutú.

I personally had no idea this animal existed, but if you ever travel to Argentina, Paraguay or Uruguay, you are probably in for a treat.

Ñeembucú / Ñeembuqueño (Department in Paraguay / People Who Are Born in This Department)

This is a very specific pair of words, but I wanted to add it because they sound so gracious to me.

Ñeembucú is a Department in Paraguay. People born there are called ñeembuqueños.

Ñañiguismo / Ñáñigos (A Freemason-like Cuban Society / People Who Are Part of This Society)

I am including these two words because when I discovered them I was absolutely fascinated.

The Ñáñigos are some kind of Cuban secret society for men, similar to the Freemasons. If you have some time, read a little bit about them.

Ñañiguismo is the word that refers to practicing the canons established by this society.

Ñangotarse (To Squat, To Humiliate, To Be Disheartened)

Ñangotarse is a verb mainly used in Puerto Rico and some parts of the Dominican Republic.

It has three main meanings, which in standard Spanish would be ponerse en cuclillas (to squat), humillarse (literally “to humiliate oneself”) and perder el ánimo (to be disheartened, literally “to lose one’s spirit”).

Taken from FluentU <a href="https://www.fluentu.com/blog/spanish/spanish-words-that-start-with-n/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.fluentu.com/blog/spanish/spanish-words-that-start-with-n/</a>;

12 mar 2020 20:27

Commenti · 0

Raciel Hernández 💫

Competenze linguistiche

Inglese, Francese, Spagnolo

Lingua di apprendimento

Inglese, Francese

Altri articoli che potrebbero piacerti

Conflict at Work: How to Handle Disagreements in English

2 consensi · 0 Commenti

How to Give and Receive Constructive Feedback: Strategies for Success in the Workplace

63 consensi · 21 Commenti

10 American Car Idioms You Should Know

33 consensi · 14 Commenti

Altri articoli

Scarica l'app italki

Interagisci con madrelingua di tutto il mondo.

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ña</em> (Mrs.)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ño</em> (Mr.)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñu</em> (Wildebeest, Gnu)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñoño</em> (Bland, Dull, Blah, Boring, Drippy, Namby-pamby)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñaño</em> (Close Friend, Spoiled, Homosexual, Brother, Kid)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñato</em> (Pug-nosed, Boxer)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñuzco</em> (The Devil)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñoñez / Ñoñería </em>(Inanity, Isipidness, Spinelessness)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñoqui</em> (Gnocchi)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñongo</em> (Intrusive, Indiscreet)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñaque </em>(Junk)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñandú </em>(Rhea)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñáñara</em> (Laziness)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñomblo </em>(Obese)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñatear</em> (To Snort)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñangazo </em>(Bite)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñamería</em> (Madness)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñandubay </em>(A Type of Tree in the Pea Family)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñampearse / Ñampeado </em>(To Go Crazy / Crazy)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñacurutú</em> (Great Horned Owl)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñeembucú / Ñeembuqueño </em>(Department in Paraguay / People Who Are Born in This Department)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñañiguismo</em> / <em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñáñigos </em>(A Freemason-like Cuban Society / People Who Are Part of This Society)

<em style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Ñangotarse </em>(To Squat, To Humiliate, To Be Disheartened)