Etymology

maraca

ma·ra·ca
M3A1R1A1C3A1

Today it means: A Latin American percussion instrument consisting of a hollow-gourd rattle containing pebbles or beans and often played in pairs, as a rhythm instrument. Full definition →

Brazilian Portuguese maraca ← Old Tupi maraká ← Paraguayan Guarani mbaraka
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Paraguayan Guarani · derived frommbaraka“rattle”
  2. Old Tupi · derived frommaraká
  3. Brazilian Portuguese · borrowed frommaraca
  4. English todaymaraca

From Brazilian Portuguese maraca, derived from Old Tupi maraká or Paraguayan Guarani mbaraka (“rattle”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.