Guará
/ɡwaˈɾa/noun
A South American canid, especially the maned wolf, Chrysocyon brachyurus.
Did you know?Guará is a Portuguese borrowing from a Tupi language, showing how Indigenous South American vocabulary survived in scientific and everyday animal names.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Colonial period
Tupi
guará
“An Indigenous animal name, traditionally associated with the maned wolf or similar South American animals.”
16th Century
Brazilian Portuguese
guará
“A borrowed name used by Portuguese speakers in Brazil for a native animal.”
18th–19th Century
Portuguese
guará
“A regional name connected especially with the maned wolf, later standardized in zoological usage.”
19th Century
Scientific Latin
Chrysocyon brachyurus
“The formal scientific name assigned to the maned wolf.”
Modern English
English
guara
“An established English loanword for the maned wolf, generally written without the Portuguese accent.”