zanja

See also: zanjá

English

Etymology

From Spanish zanja.

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA or enPR then please add some!

Noun

zanja (plural zanjas)

1. An irrigation canal in Latin America.

Related terms

• zanjero

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈθanxa/ [ˈθãŋ.xa]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /ˈsanxa/ [ˈsãŋ.xa]
• Rhymes: -anxa
• Syllabification: zan‧ja

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Basque zanga, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sengh- (possibly borrowed via Proto-Celtic [Term?]).

Noun

zanja f (plural zanjas)

1. ditch; trench

   Synonyms: trinchera, cuneta

Etymology 2

Verb

zanja

1. inflection of zanjar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

References

• Sobre la etimología del vasco zanga y del español zanja, Fernando Fernández Palacios, in Fontes linguae vasconum: Studia et documenta, Navarra:Institución Príncipe de Viana, 1969. Accessible at Fundación Dialnet

Further reading

• “zanja”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014