murrjelë

Albanian

Alternative forms

• murrelë, murjelë, mrrelë, murjellë — dialectal

Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps borrowed from Italian morello (“dark brown; dark red”), alternatively akin to i murrmë, i murrët (“dark gray”). A connection with Spanish buriel (“dark red”) is to be discarded.

Noun

murrjelë f (plural murrjela)

1. large horsefly

   Synonyms: zekth, mizë kali

2. (figurative, derogatory) someone who pesters, harasses; gadfly

References

• “murrjél/ë,~a”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[1] (in Albanian), 1980, page 1187a
• Mann, S. E. (1948) “murrjelë”, in An Historical Albanian–English Dictionary, London: Longmans, Green & Co., page 300b
• Lloshi, Xhevat (2010) “murrela”, in Fjalor i emrave të bimëve dhe të kafshëve shqip–latinisht dhe latinisht–shqip (in Albanian), Skopje, Pristina, Tirana: Logos-A, →ISBN, page 234a
• Kristoforidhi, Kostandin (1904) “μουρρέλϳε̯-α”, in Λεξικὸν τῆς Ἀλβανικῆς γλώσσης [Lexikòn tês Albanikês glṓssēs] (in Greek), Athens, page 253
• Meyer, G. (1891) “murjełɛ”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, →DOI, page 291f.