pastorela

English

Alternative forms

• Pastorela

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish pastorela, from French pastourelle.

Noun

pastorela (plural pastorelas)

1. A traditional Mexican theater performance that chronicles the journeys of shepherds and shepherdesses on the way to visit the newborn Jesus, typically performed during Advent.

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Old Occitan pastorela (“little shepherdess”), from pastor (“shepherd”) +‎ -ela (feminine diminutive suffix). Compare etymology 1.

Noun

pastorela (plural pastorelas)

1. (historical) A type of Occitan lyric poetry in which a knight meets a shepherdess.
   1. A work of such poetry.

See also

• troubadour

Related terms

• pastor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French pastourelle (“little shepherdess”). Equivalent to pastor (“shepherd”) +‎ -ela (feminine diminutive suffix).

Noun

pastorela f (plural pastorelas)

1. pastorela

Descendants

• → English: pastorela

Further reading

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