caatinga

English

Caatinga

Etymology

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese caatinga, borrowed from Old Tupi ka'atinga, from ka'a + ting + -a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑːˈtɪŋɡə/

Noun

caatinga (plural caatingas)

1. A sparse, thorny wooded area of northeastern Brazil containing drought-resistant trees.
   • 1984, Helen R. Lane, The War of the End of the World, Folio Society, translation of La guerra del fin del mundo by Mario Vargas Llosa, published 2012, page 187:

     He then goes on his way at a steady pace that does not tire him, climbing up slopes or down ravines, traversing scrubland caatinga or stony ground.

   • 2000, David Lewis Lentz, Imperfect Balance: Landscape Transformations in the Precolumbian Americas, page 426:

     The geological substrate of the caatinga is severely eroded crystalline bedrock of the Precambrian Brazilian Shield and Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary basins.

Translations

sparse, thorny wooded area of northeastern Brazil

• Portuguese: caatinga (pt) f

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• Caatinga, catinga

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Tupi ka'atinga, from ka'a + ting + -a.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.aˈt͡ʃĩ.ɡɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.aˈt͡ʃĩ.ɡɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.aˈt͡ʃĩ.ɡa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.ɐˈtĩ.ɡɐ/

• Rhymes: -ĩɡɐ

Noun

caatinga f (usually uncountable, plural caatingas)

1. caatinga (sparse, thorny wooded area of northeastern Brazil)

Descendants

• → English: caatinga