merlo

See also: Merlo, mèrlo, and merlò

Galician

Merlo

Alternative forms

• melro

Etymology

From Late Latin merŭlum, from Latin merula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛɾlo̝/

Noun

merlo m (plural merlos)

1. blackbird

   Synonyms: merla, merliño

   • 1894, Luís Otero Pimentel, Truada de rapaces:

     Dempois vin dúas lavandeiras que depenicaban unha espiga de trigo na leira de Xan de Pedreira, unha pomba que voaba pró souto de Fonte Boa, unha péga que fuxía de un lagarteiro, catro corvos que espaturraban un canciño morto na carballeira, un melro que asubiaba entre as follas dun cereixo, un carpinteiro que facía o burato pró seu niño; e unha laverca que rebulía no aire, con unha miñoquiña no pico.

     After this I saw two wagtails which were pecking a wheat spike at the field of Xan de Pedreira, a dove flying to the wood of Fonte Boa, a magpie fleeing from a kestrel, four ravens which were clawing at a dead pup at the oak grove, a blackbird whistling in the leaves of a cherry tree, a woodpecker making the hole of its nest; and a lark fluttering in the air with a little earthworm in its beak.

References

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “melr”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “merlo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “merlo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “merlo”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛr.lo/
• Rhymes: -ɛrlo
• Hyphenation: mèr‧lo

Etymology 1

From Late Latin merŭlum, from Latin merula.

Noun

merlo m (plural merli, feminine merla)

1. blackbird
2. (slang) pushover or weakling; sucker, patsy, or dupe; a chump

Derived terms

• merlo acquaiolo
• merlo dal collare
• merlo indiano

Further reading

• merlo¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin merulus (“battlement”). Probably cognate with French and English merlon, Spanish merlón.

Noun

merlo m (plural merli)

1. battlement

Derived terms

• merlone

Further reading

• merlo³ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 3

Verb

merlo

1. first-person singular present indicative of merlare

Ladin

Etymology

From Late Latin merŭlum, from Latin merula.

Noun

merlo

1. blackbird

Spanish

Alternative forms

• mirlo

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin merŭlum, from Latin merula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeɾlo/ [ˈmeɾ.lo]
• Rhymes: -eɾlo
• Syllabification: mer‧lo

Noun

merlo m (plural merlos)

1. blackbird
2. brown wrasse (fish)

   Synonym: budión

Further reading

• “merlo”, 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