abuela

From Spanish abuela.

abuéla

1. grandmother

Feminine of abuelo. From Vulgar Latin *aviōla, from Latin avia. Compare French aïeule, Galician avoa, Portuguese avó.

• IPA^(key): /aˈbwela/, [aˈβwela]
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /aˈwela/
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /aɡˈwela/, [aɣˈwela]
• Rhymes: -ela

abuela f (plural abuelas, masculine abuelo, masculine plural abuelos)

1. grandmother, female equivalent of abuelo
2. (colloquial) old woman
3. (Mexico) a kind of flying ant (clarification of this definition is needed)

The noun abuelo is like several other Spanish nouns with a human referent. The masculine forms are used when the referent is known to be male, a group of males, a group of mixed or unknown gender, or an individual of unknown or unspecified gender. The feminine forms are used if the referent is known to be female or a group of females.

• abuelita (diminutive)

• “abuela” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
• Schoenhals, Louise C. (1988) A Spanish - English Glossary of Mexican Flora and Fauna‎, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, page 211