cadejo

Spanish

Etymology

Cross of cadarzo (“floss”) and madeja (“skein, ball of yarn”). The first word is from Ancient Greek ἀκάθαρτος (akáthartos, “uclean”).

Noun

cadejo m (plural cadejos)

1. tangle (of hair)
2. a supernatural spirit, dog-shaped creature with red eyes, that would increase size when assaulted, wanders the isolated roads at night

Further reading

• “cadejo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
• Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN