duende

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish duende and (especially in reference to Portuguese or Brazilian folklore) Portuguese duende. Doublet of duwende.

Noun

duende (countable and uncountable, plural duendes)

1. A small, mischievous humanoid creature in Iberian (Spanish/Portuguese), Latin American, and Philippine folklore/mythology; an imp.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:duende.
2. (art) Heightened inspiration or passion, especially in flamenco.
   • 1998, Federico García Lorca, Norman Thomas Di Giovanni, In Search of Duende‎^[1], New Directions, →ISBN, page VIII, →ISBN:

     The duende is a momentary burst of inspiration, the blush of all that is truly alive, all that the performer is creating at a certain moment.

3. Personal charm. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Anagrams

• Dundee, denude, dudeen, endued

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʉːən(d)ə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əndə, -ənə
• Hyphenation: du‧en‧de
• Homophone: duene

Verb

duende

1. present participle of due

Anagrams

• dudende

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish duende, from Old Spanish duen de casa (“house master”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /duˈẽ.d͡ʒi/ [dʊˈẽ.d͡ʒi], (faster pronunciation) /ˈdwẽ.d͡ʒi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /duˈẽ.d͡ʒi/ [dʊˈẽ.d͡ʒi], (faster pronunciation) /ˈdwẽ.d͡ʒi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /duˈẽ.de/ [dʊˈẽ.de], (faster pronunciation) /ˈdwẽ.de/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈdwẽ.dɨ/

• Hyphenation: du‧en‧de

Noun

duende m (plural duendes)

1. (Iberian folklore) a small humanoid creature who invades homes at night to carry out mischief and scare the residents
2. (by extension, fiction) any small fictional humanoid, especially a mischievous or evil one

Usage notes

• This term is commonly used in fiction to translate the name of various creatures such as imps, gnomes and goblins.

See also

• trasgo

Spanish

FWOTD – 29 March 2016

un duende

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish duen de casa (“master of the house”). Compare Sicilian donni di casa. See more at dueño.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdwende/ [ˈd̪wẽn̪.d̪e]
• Rhymes: -ende
• Syllabification: duen‧de

Noun

duende m (plural duendes)

1. (Iberian folklore) a small humanoid creature who invades homes at night to carry out mischief and scare the residents
   • (Can we date this quote?), Raquel Cachafeiro Gil, El Duende de la Navidad, →ISBN, page 4:

     El duende de la Navidad vive en las ramas del manzano, pasa el tiempo subiendo y bajando, atareado con unir la luz del sol a la tierra y otras tareas similares. Cada año, en el invierno, se asoma a las ramas y mira a las estrellas y ve caer la […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (by extension, fiction) goblin, leprechaun, pixie, elf, imp, brownie, gremlin, hobgoblin

   Synonyms: elfo, hada, gnomo

3. (by extension) charisma (the power to attract through personal magnetism and charm)

   Synonym: carisma

4. (by extension) charm, magic

   Synonyms: encanto, embrujo, magia

Derived terms

• duendecillo

 

Descendants

• → Cebuano: dewende
• → Chamorro: duendes
• → English: duende
• → Portuguese: duende
• → Russian: дуэ́нде (duénde)
• → Tagalog: duwende, dwende — nonstandard, duende, duwinde, ruwinri — dialectal, Rizal, rare
  • → English: duwende
• → Ukrainian: дуе́нде (duénde)

See also

• trasgo

Further reading

• “duende”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10