Etymology

manta ray

Today it means: Any of several very large pelagic rays formerly of the genus Manta, now placed in genus Mobula, with winglike pectoral fins, a long tail, and two fins resembling horns that project from the head. Full definition →

Spanish mantarraya
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The story

  1. Spanish · borrowed frommantarraya
  2. English todaymanta ray

From Spanish mantarraya, itself a compound from manta and raya; according to Jorge Juan y Santacilia and Antonio de Ulloa, so called “for being broad and long like a quilt”.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.