Tatouay
/ˌtætəˈweɪ/noun
A large armadillo, especially the giant armadillo of South America.
Did you know?Tatouay is ultimately connected with Tupi-Guarani terms for the armadillo, whose segmented shell inspired the animal’s identity in European languages.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian period
Tupi-Guarani
tatu
“Armadillo; literally an Indigenous name for the armored burrowing animal”
Colonial period
Portuguese
tatu-açu
“Large armadillo, from tatu meaning armadillo and an intensifying element meaning large or great”
18th Century
French
tatouay
“A large South American armadillo; a French adaptation of an Indigenous-derived colonial name”
19th Century
English
tatouay
“A large armadillo, used as a zoological loanword”
Modern English
English
tatouay
“Usually referring to the giant armadillo, Priodontes maximus”