meiga

Galician

Etymology

13th century. From Latin magicus (“magical”), from Ancient Greek μαγικός (magikós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmej.ɣa̝/

Adjective

meiga

1. feminine singular of meigo

Noun

meiga f (plural meigas)

1. a witch

   Synonyms: bruxa, feiticeira

   • 1746, Martín Sarmiento, Coloquio de 24 gallegos rústicos, page 144:

     eu sen ser pieira, nen pensare en sé-lo, nen meiga nen bruxa, nen cousa do demo

     I, who am not a sorceress, nor have I though of being one, nor a witch nor a hex, nor Devil's business

   • 1813, Manuel Pardo de Andrade, Rogos dun galego:

     Meigas, feitizos e bruxas
     que persigue a Inquisicion,
     sin mascara, socaliñas
     de cregos e frades son.
     Chamanlles bruxas à ás vellas
     por ter cara de carton;
     pero solamente hay meygas
     en donde hay Inquisicion.
     As femias da nosa especie
     de certa constitucion
     fan visaxes, e son tolas,
     pero feitizeiras non.

     Witches, spells and hexes,
     who are prosecuted by the Inquisition,
     maskless, hoaxes
     of priests and friars are.
     They call hex an old lady
     because her face is made of cardboard;
     but there are witches
     just where it is Inquisition.
     Females of our species,
     of certain constitution,
     make gestures, and are mad,
     but sorceresses they are not.

2. a witch doctor

   Synonyms: curandeira, menciñeira

3. megrim (fish)
4. a sea slug (Aplysia punctata)
5. (archaic) fake, trick

Derived terms

• meiga chuchona
• meigallo
• meigas fóra

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “meiga”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “meiga”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “meiga”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “meiga”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “meiga”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Icelandic

Verb

meiga

1. Misspelling of mega.

Japanese

Romanization

meiga

1. Rōmaji transcription of めいが
2. Rōmaji transcription of メイガ

Portuguese

Adjective

meiga

1. feminine singular of meigo