esquirla

Spanish

FWOTD – 8 January 2023

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈkiɾla/ [esˈkiɾ.la]
• Rhymes: -iɾla
• Syllabification: es‧quir‧la

Noun

esquirla f (plural esquirlas)

1. (piece of) shrapnel
   • 1921, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Las plumas del caburé:

     los proyectiles levantaban esquirlas de su coraza

     the projectiles were bringing up shrapnel from his cuirass

2. fragment; shard

   esquirlas de oro

   shards of gold

3. (figurative) fragment; glimmer; chink
   • 1994, Jorge Juan Eiroa, La prehistoria I:

     Después, las esquirlas de hueso o cuerno eran sometidas a un proceso de regularización de la superficie, mediante un raspador

     Afterwards, the bone or horn fragments were subjected to a surface regularization process, using a scraper.

   • 1914, José Ortega y Gasset, Arroyos y oropéndolas:

     La oropéndola da un denso grito de su garganta, tan musical que parece una esquirla arrancada al canto del ruiseñor […]

     The oriole lets out a dense cry from its throat, so musical that it sounds like a fragment of a nightingale's cry […]

Further reading

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