How to Say "Squirrel" in Portuguese

esquilo

/isˈki.lu/masculine

The English phrase "squirrel" is translated into Portuguese as esquilo.

The word refers to the rodent known as a squirrel.

Meaning: rodent (noun)

Is it said differently in some regions?

In Brazil, the word caxinguelê is also used to refer to a squirrel.

The plural of esquilo is esquilos.

The word has 3 syllables and the stress is on the 2nd syllable. It is pronounced /isˈki.lu/.

The English word 'squirrel' and the Portuguese esquilo both share a common ancestor in the ancient Greek word 'skiouros', which literally means 'shadow-tail'.
The word esquilo begins with a vowel, but in spoken Brazilian Portuguese, it is common to hear a slight 'h' sound at the start, making it sound like hesquilo.
The term caxinguelê is a regionalism that can be applied to several different species of rodents, not exclusively true squirrels.

O diabo é um esquilo.
The devil is a squirrel.
Tatoeba #2500583 by alexmarcelo, translation #2498208 by Hybrid
Você já viu um esquilo?
Have you ever seen a squirrel?
Tatoeba #6814172 by anthrax26, translation #3219164 by Hybrid
Meu gato matou um esquilo.
My cat killed a squirrel.
Tatoeba #1288553 by alexmarcelo, translation #681296 by Source_VOA
No parque, é possível ver muitos esquilos pulando entre as árvores.
In the park, it is possible to see many squirrels jumping between the trees.
Os serelepes vivem no nosso jardim e adoram roubar as nozes.
The squirrels live in our garden and love stealing the nuts.
37 more sentences on Tatoeba

Rodrigo and Camila are walking through a forest.

Sources

Wiktionary, “squirrel” translations and entries esquilo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries esquilo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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