Etymology From Old Galician-Portuguese madrỹa, from Early Medieval Latin mātrīna, from Latin mater (“mother”). Compare Galician madriña. Pronunciation (Brazil) IPA(key): /maˈdɾĩ.ɲɐ/ [maˈdɾĩ.j̃ɐ] (Brazil) IPA(key): /maˈdɾĩ.ɲɐ/ [maˈdɾĩ.j̃ɐ] (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /maˈdɾi.ɲa/ (Portugal) IPA(key): /mɐˈdɾi.ɲɐ/ [mɐˈðɾi.ɲɐ] Noun madrinha f (plural madrinhas) godmother Related terms mãe See also comadre padrinho Further reading “madrinha”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024