noun, feminine/maˈkila/plural: maquilas
maquila, half-almud (a traditional unit of dry measure of variable size); synonym of medio, half-celemin (a traditional unit of dry measure equivalent to about 2.3 L); synonym of maquiladora (a factory or sweatshop in Latin American and Spanish contexts)
Synonyms: medio, half-celemin, maquiladora
Borrowed from Andalusian Arabic مَكِيلَة (makíla), from Arabic مَكِيلَة (makīla, “measured”). In reference to factories, via clipping of maquiladora, from maquilar (“to assemble”) + -adora (“-ator: forming agent nouns”), from maquilar's original sense of taking a toll of grain.