avispa

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈbispa/ [aˈβ̞is.pa]
• Rhymes: -ispa
• Syllabification: a‧vis‧pa

Etymology 1

avispa

Inherited from Old Spanish biespa, from Latin vespa, from Proto-Indo-European *wobʰseh₂ (“wasp”), from *webʰ- (“to weave”). The initial /a/ may have been added by analogy with abeja (“bee”). For the development of the stressed vowel, compare víspera, níspero. Doublet of vespa.

Alternative forms

• abispa (obsolete)

Noun

avispa f (plural avispas)

1. wasp (any of many types of stinging flying insect resembling a hornet)
   • [1591, Richard Percyuall, Bibliotheca Hispanica. Containg a Grammar, with a Dictionaire in Spanish, English, and Latine, gathered out of diuers good Authors: very profitable for the studious of the Spanish toong, London: Iohn Iackson:

     Abiſpa,a waſpe,Veſpa.

     Avispa, a wasp, Vespa.]

2. someone quick-tempered

Derived terms

• avispa alemana
• avispa asiática
• avispar
• avispero
• avispilla
• avispón
• cintura de avispa

 

Etymology 2

Verb

avispa

1. inflection of avispar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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