girafa

Borrowed from French girafe.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ʒiˈɾa.fə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [d͡ʒiˈɾa.fa]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

girafa f (plural girafes)

1. giraffe
2. boom (microphone support)

• “girafa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

girafa f (plural girafas, reintegrationist norm)

1. reintegrationist spelling of xirafa

• “girafa”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2025

• giraffa (pre-standardization spelling, rare)

Borrowed from Italian giraffa.

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -afɐ
• Hyphenation: gi‧ra‧fa

girafa f (plural girafas)

1. giraffe (any animal of the genus Giraffa)

   Synonym: (archaic) camelopárdale

   • 1891, “Os elephantes [The elephants]” (chapter IV), in Eça de Queiroz, transl., As Minas de Salomão [The Mines of Solomon], Porto: Lugan & Genelioux, translation of King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard, page 58:

     O jantar estava prompto. Bem parco era elle, composto dos tutanos e lombos d’uma girafa, que n’essa tarde, ao fim da sésta, fôra morta pelo capitão John com um tiro providencial.

     [original: […] our dinner of giraffe steaks and roasted marrow bones was ready […] pausing at times to thank Good for his wonderful shot […]]

     The dinner was ready. Very scarce it was, consisting of the marrows and loins of a giraffe which, this afternoon, after the nap, had been killed by capitan John with a providential shot.

2. (by extension, rare) giraffid (any animal of the Giraffidae family)

   Synonym: girafídeo

3. (Brazil, figurative, colloquial) giraffe (very tall or long-necked individual)
4. (Brazil, film, television) boom (movable pole used to support a microphone or camera)

   Synonyms: bum, percha

5. (music) ellipsis of piano girafa (“giraffe piano”)

The gender of this Portuguese zoonym is always feminine: when the gender of the being itself must be specified, use “girafa-macho” for male, and “girafa-fêmea” for female. Here, macho is treated as an undeclinable noun and doesn't necessarily need to agree in gender with the referent, but would change to macha if so.

• → Hunsrik: Schiraff

• “girafa”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “girafa”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “girafa”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “girafa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒiˈrafa/

girafa f

1. definite nominative singular of girafă