mangosta
/manˈɡosta/feminine
The Spanish word for mongoose is mangosta.
mangosta refers to the small carnivore of the family Herpestidae.
Meaning: small carnivore of the family Herpestidae (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
To refer to more than one mongoose, use the plural form mangostas.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is /manˈɡosta/.
Did you know?
- The Spanish word mangosta traveled through several languages before arriving in Spain, moving from Marathi to Portuguese, then to French and finally into Spanish.
- Although mangosta ends in a, which usually signifies a feminine noun in Spanish, it is used for both male and female animals unless specifically clarified.
- The word mangosta is a feminine noun, meaning you must use la instead of el when referring to the animal.
Examples in context
- En el zoológico, puedes observar una bella mangosta africana.At the zoo, you can observe a beautiful African mongoose.
- La mangosta es muy ágil.The mongoose is very agile.
- He visto una mangosta en el safari.I saw a mongoose on the safari.
- Esa mangosta es de color marrón.That mongoose is brown.
Example conversation
Daniel and Sofía are watching a nature documentary on TV.
- Daniel¿Es esa una mangosta?Is that a mongoose?
- SofíaSí, es una mangosta muy pequeña.Yes, it is a very small mongoose.
- DanielParece que es muy rápida.It looks very fast.
- SofíaDaniel, la mangosta siempre está alerta.Daniel, the mongoose is always alert.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “mongoose” translations and entries mangosta, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries mangosta, CC BY-SA 4.0.
