abalorio

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic بِلَّوْرِيّ (billawriyy, “crystalline”), from بِلَّوْر (billawr, “crystal”). The Royal Spanish Academy postulates that it came to Arabic from Tamil but notes that similar terms are found in other South Asian languages, including Persian and Sanskrit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abaˈloɾjo/ [a.β̞aˈlo.ɾjo]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾjo
• Syllabification: a‧ba‧lo‧rio

Noun

abalorio m (plural abalorios)

1. glass bead
2. trinket; bauble (jewelry of little value)

Descendants

• → Tagalog: abaloryo

Further reading

• “abalorio”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014