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noun, feminine

musaraña

/musaˈɾaɲa/

noun, feminine/musaˈɾaɲa/plural: musarañas

shrew (any member of the Soricidae family of mammals); vermin; small animal; face (exaggerated facial expression); vulva

Todos se rieron de sus musarañas.They all laughed at her funny faces.

Synonyms: musgaño, alimaña, mueca, vulva

First attested in the 13th century. Inherited from Latin mūsarāneus (literally “spider mouse”) with the ending influenced by araña (“spider”), from mūs (“mouse”) + arāneus (“of or related to spiders”), because of the popular belief that shrews have a venomous bite akin to that of a spider. Cognate with French musaraigne.