escama

See also: escamá

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin squāma (“scale”).

Noun

escama f (plural escames)

1. scale (of a fish)

Catalan

Etymology 1

From Latin squāma. Doublet of esquama.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əsˈka.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [esˈka.ma]

Noun

escama f (plural escames)

1. scale (of an animal or insect)

   Synonym: escata

2. (botany) scale

   Synonym: esquama

Further reading

• “escama”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “escama”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “escama” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “escama” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology 2

Verb

escama

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

Galician

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese (the derived form escamar is already attested in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, 13th century), from Latin squāma (“scale”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [esˈkɑmɐ]

Noun

escama m (plural escamas)

1. scale (of a fish or reptile)
2. peritoneum

   Synonyms: teaz, touca

Derived terms

• escamar

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “escama”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “escama”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “escama”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “escama”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “escama”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Etymology 2

Verb

escama

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

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin squāmam, accusative of squāma.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈkama/

Noun

escama f (plural escamas)

1. scale (of a fish or reptile)
   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, 56v:

     […] ca alli a una laguna q̃ ſe tiene cõ la. en q̃ a unos peces tamannos como un palmo. ⁊ no an eſcama nĩguna.

     […] for in that place there is a pool in which there are large fish, the size of a handspan, and they have no scales whatsoever.

Descendants

• Spanish: escama

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈkɐ̃.mɐ/, /esˈkɐ̃.mɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈkɐ̃.mɐ/, /esˈkɐ̃.mɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /iʃˈkɐ̃.mɐ/, /eʃˈkɐ̃.mɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /esˈkɐ.ma/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃˈkɐ.mɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃˈkɐ.mɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃˈka.mɐ/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɐmɐ, (Brazil) -ɐ̃mɐ
• Hyphenation: es‧ca‧ma

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese escama, from Latin squāma (“scale”).

Noun

escama f (plural escamas)

1. scale (keratin pieces covering the skin of certain animals)

Related terms

• escamado
• escamar

Etymology 2

Verb

escama

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

Further reading

• “escama”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “escama”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈkama/ [esˈka.ma]
• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: es‧ca‧ma

Etymology 1

From Old Spanish escama, from Latin squāma. Cognate with English squama and squame.

Noun

escama f (plural escamas)

1. scale (of a fish or reptile)
2. flake (of dead skin)

Related terms

• escamar
• escamoso

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

escama

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

Further reading

• “escama”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024