Meanings
nounarmadillo (plural armadillos or armadilloes)
plural armadillos · plural armadilloes
- Any of the burrowing mammals in the families Dasypodidae, Chlamyphoridae, Tolypeutidae and Euphractidae in the order Cingulata, found in the Americas, especially South America, and covered with bony, jointed protective plates.
The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters …. But the priciest items in the market aren't the armadillo steaks or even the bluefin tuna.
2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32Synonyms: quirquincho
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of the burrowing mammals in the families Dasypodidae, Chlamyphoridae, Tolypeutidae and Euphractidae in the order Cingulata, found in the Americas, especially South America, and covered with bony, jointed protective plates.
Similar
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂er-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂(e)rmos
- Proto-Italic*armos
- Latinarma
- Latinarmō
- Latinarmātus
- Old Spanisharmado
- Spanisharmado
- Spanisharmadillo
- Englisharmadillo
Borrowed from Spanish armadillo, diminutive of armado (“armored”), in reference to its protective plates.
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans armadil, gordeldier
- armadilburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- gordeldierburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Arabic مُدَرَّع
- مُدَرَّع (mudarraʕ)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Bulgarian бронено́сец
- бронено́сец (bronenósec)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Catalan armadillo, tatú
- armadilloburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- tatúburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Chinese Mandarin 犰狳
- 犰狳 (qiúyú)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Czech pásovec
- pásovecburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Danish bæltedyr
- bæltedyrburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Dutch gordeldier, armadillo
- gordeldierburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- armadilloburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- schildvarkenburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- kapasieburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Esperanto dazipo
- dazipoburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Estonian vöölane, vööloom
- vöölaneburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- vööloomburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Finnish vyötiäinen
- vyötiäinenburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
French tatou
- tatouburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
German Gürteltier, Armadill
- Gürteltierburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- Armadillburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Greek αρμαντίλλο
- αρμαντίλλο (armantíllo)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Hebrew אַרְמָדִיל
- אַרְמָדִיל (armadíl)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Hindi आर्माडिलो
- आर्माडिलो (ārmāḍilo)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Hungarian tatu, övesállat
- tatuburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- övesállatburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- armadillóburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Icelandic beltisdýr
- beltisdýrburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Indonesian trenggiling, armadilo
- trenggilingburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- armadiloburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Irish armadailín
- armadailínburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Italian armadillo
- armadilloburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Japanese アルマジロ
- アルマジロ (arumajiro)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Korean 아르마딜로
- 아르마딜로 (areumadillo)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Latvian bruņnesis
- bruņnesisburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Lithuanian šarvuotis
- šarvuotisburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Malay armadillo
- armadilloburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Norwegian Bokmål beltedyr
- beltedyrburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Persian آرمادیلو
- آرمادیلو (ârmâdilo)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Polish pancernik
- pancernikburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Portuguese tatu, armadilho
- tatuburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- armadilhoburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Romanian tatu
- tatuburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Russian бронено́сец
- бронено́сец (bronenósec)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Scottish Gaelic armadillo
- armadilloburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Slovak pásavec
- pásavecburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Spanish armadillo, armado
- armadilloburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- armadoburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- cachicamoburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- carachupaburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- cusucoburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- gurreburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- jerrejerreburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- mulitaburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- piteroburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- quirquinchoburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- tatúburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- tocheburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Swahili kakakuona
- kakakuonaburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Swedish bälta, bältdjur
- bältaburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- bältdjurburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Tagalog armadilyo
- armadilyoburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Thai นิ่ม
- นิ่ม (nîm)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Turkish armadillo
- armadilloburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Ukrainian бронено́сець
- бронено́сець (bronenósecʹ)burrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Vietnamese tatu
- tatuburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Welsh armadilo, armellog
- armadiloburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
- armellogburrowing mammal covered with bony, jointed protective plates
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with armadillo
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
armadillo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/armadillo
MLA
“armadillo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/armadillo. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “armadillo,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/armadillo.
Source: armadillo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.