murciélago
/muɾˈθjelaɡo/masculine
The Spanish word for the small flying mammal 'bat' is murciélago. It is also spelled murciégalo. Wiktionary also lists ratón volador and morciguillo.
Meaning: small flying mammal (noun)
Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| murciélago | /muɾˈθjelaɡo/ /muɾˈsjelaɡo/ |
masculine |
| ratón volador | /raˌtom bolaˈdoɾ/ | masculine |
| murciégalo | /muɾˈθjeɡalo/ /muɾˈsjeɡalo/ |
masculine, vernacular, alternative form |
| morciguillo | /moɾθiɡiʝo/ (Spain, from spelling rules) /moɾsiɡiʝo/ (Latin America, from spelling rules) |
masculine |
| murceguillo | /muɾθeɡiʝo/ (Spain, from spelling rules) /muɾseɡiʝo/ (Latin America, from spelling rules) |
masculine |
| panarra | /paˈnara/ | masculine |
| chinacate | /t͡ʃinaˈkate/ | masculine |
| vespertilio | /bespeɾtiljo/ (from spelling rules) | masculine |
Which one should you use?
murciégalo is an alternative, vernacular spelling. For more technical or scientific contexts, the term quiróptero is used. Other specific terms like morciguillo, murceguillo, panarra, chinacate and vespertilio also exist for the animal.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina and Uruguay, the term vampiro is specifically used to refer to a vampire bat.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The word murciélago is a masculine noun. Its plural form is murciélagos.
How do you pronounce it?
/muɾˈθjelaɡo/
Did you know?
- The word murciélago actually translates literally to 'blind mouse' because it originates from the Vulgar Latin phrase 'mūrem caecum'.
Examples in context
- ¿Eso es un murciélago?Is that a bat?This is useful for asking if an object is a murciélago.Tatoeba #506782 by Shishir, translation #67124 by CK
- Esto es un murciélago.This is a bat.This is useful for identifying that an object is a murciélago.Tatoeba #9177168 by ignacio, translation #9176947 by CK
- Un murciélago mordió a Tom.Tom was bitten by a bat.This is useful for describing an action involving a murciélago.Tatoeba #5566227 by swyter, translation #5373389 by Hybrid
- Los murciélagos son mamíferos voladores.Bats are flying mammals.
- En este museo se exhiben diferentes especies de quirópteros.This museum exhibits different species of bats.
- 11 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Lucía are walking in a park at dusk.
- DanielMira, hay un murciélago en ese árbol.Look, there is a bat in that tree.
- Lucía¡Qué miedo! No me acerco a él.How scary! I'm not getting close to it.
- DanielNo te preocupes, el murciélago no nos hará nada.Don't worry, the bat won't do anything to us.
- LucíaTienes razón, Daniel. Sigamos caminando.You're right, Daniel. Let's keep walking.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bat” translations and entries murciélago, ratón volador, murciégalo, panarra, chinacate, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries murciélago, ratón, ratón volador, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
