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noun, feminine

comadreja

/komaˈdɾexa/

noun, feminine/komaˈdɾexa/plural: comadrejas

weasel (a mammal of the genus Mustela); marten; opossum, possum (especially the white-eared opossum Didelphis Albiventris)

Synonyms: comadreja común, comadreja menor, zarigüeya, comadreja overa

From comadre (“midwife; godmother”) + -eja (diminutive suffix), said to be after its sinuous and nimble (and therefore “feminine”) figure. Compare equivalents in other Romance languages (Italian donnola, Portuguese doninha, Galician doniña, Romanian nevăstuică) but not only (Greek νυφίτσα (nyfítsa), Danish brud, Arabic اِبْن عِرْس (ibn ʕirs)).