samambaîa

Old Tupi

samambaîa (sense 1)

samambaîa (sense 2)

Etymology

From sama (“rope”) +‎ paîa (“weight”), literally, “weight rope”, or more loosely translated as “pendant rope”, referring to the shape of its leaves.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sã.mãˈᵐba.ja/
Rhymes: -aja
Hyphenation: sa‧ma‧mba‧îa

Noun

samambaîa (unpossessable)

Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides)
forked fern (any fern in the genus Dicranopteris)

Descendants

Nheengatu: samambaya
→ Portuguese: samambaia (“fern”)

References

^ Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “samambaîa”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 437, column 1

[1] Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “samambaîa”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 437, column 1

[1]