missanga

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Uncertain. Likely from a Bantu language, either from Kimbundu misanga, plural of musanga, or from Nyungwe maussanga, plural of usanga.

Pronunciation

 

  • Rhymes: -ɐ̃ɡɐ
  • Hyphenation: mis‧san‧ga
  • Homophone: miçanga

Noun

missanga f (plural missangas) (European Portuguese spelling)

  1. glass bead
    Synonym: conta
    colar de miçangas ― glass bead necklace
  2. an ornament made of glass beads
  3. (figurative) something small or insignificant
  4. (typography) small body text

Descendants

  • → English: misanga
  • → Japanese: ミサンガ (misanga)

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.