gaita

See also: Gaita, gaiță, and Gaiță

Asturian

Etymology

Uncertain; see gaita for possibilities.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡai̯ta/ [ˈɡai̯.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -ai̯ta
• Syllabification: gai‧ta

Noun

gaita f (plural gaites)

1. (music) bagpipes

Derived terms

• gaiteru

Further reading

• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “gaita”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “gaita”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN

Catalan

Etymology

Uncertain; see Portuguese gaita for possibilities.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈɡaj.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈɡaj.ta]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

gaita f (plural gaites)

1. bagpipes

   Synonym: cornamusa

Derived terms

• gaiter

Further reading

• “gaita”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Galician

A Galician gaita ("bagpipe")

Reproduction of a 13th century gaita

Etymology

Uncertain; likely from Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍄𐍃 (gaits, “goat”), from Proto-Germanic *gaits. See gaita for other proposals.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡajta/ [ˈɡɑj.t̪ɐ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈɡajta/ [ˈɡɑj.t̪ɐ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada) /ˈħajta/ [ˈħɑj.t̪ɐ]

• Rhymes: -ajta
• Hyphenation: gai‧ta

Noun

gaita f (plural gaitas)

1. (music) bagpipes
2. (figurative) penis

   Non me toque'la gaita!

   Don't play the bagpipe for me! / Don't touch my penis! / Stop harassing me!

   • Traditional:

     A muller do gaiteriño
     muller de moita fortuna
     ela toca duas gaitas
     outras non tocan ningunha

     The bagpiper's wife,
     a woman with much fortune,
     she plays two bagpipes,
     others don't play not even one

Derived terms

• gaita grileira (“a bagpipe tuned in D”)
• gaita redonda (“a large bagpipe tuned in C”)
• gaita tombal (“a bagpipe tuned in B flat and built with two drones”)
• gaiteiro (“bagpiper”)
• Gaiteiro, a surname

See also

• gaita on the Galician Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^gl

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “gayteyro”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “gaita”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “gaita”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “gaita”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Further reading

• “gaita”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “gaita”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Latvian

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeh₂- (“to go, step”), related to the past tense of iet.

Noun

gaita f (4th declension)

1. course
2. process
3. gait

Declension

Declension of gaita (4th)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative	gaita	gaitas
genitive	gaitas	gaitu
dative	gaitai	gaitām
accusative	gaitu	gaitas
instrumental	gaitu	gaitām
locative	gaitā	gaitās
vocative	gaita	gaitas

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Suggested derivations include:

• Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍄𐍃 (gaits, “goat”), from Proto-Germanic *gaits, with semantic shift due to bagpipes being made of goat skin;
• Ottoman Turkish (Turkish gayda), from Bulgarian гайда (gajda), possibly via Arabic غَيْطَة (ḡayṭa);
• Old Galician-Portuguese guaita, from Proto-Germanic *wahta;
• from the same root as Spanish gayo;
• Hausa algaita, via a Berber language;
• Suevic.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈɡaj.tɐ/ [ˈɡaɪ̯.tɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈɡaj.tɐ/ [ˈɡaɪ̯.tɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈɡaj.ta/ [ˈɡaɪ̯.ta]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈɡaj.tɐ/

Noun

gaita f (plural gaitas)

1. (music) bagpipes

   Synonym: gaita de foles

2. harmonica (wind instrument)

   Synonyms: gaita de boca, gaita de beiços, harmónica

3. (South Brazil, Cape Verde) accordion

   Synonyms: acordeão, concertina, (Rio Grande do Sul) cordeona, sanfona

4. (Brazil, slang) money; cash; dough
5. (vulgar) penis

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pénis

Etymology 2

Verb

gaita

1. inflection of gaitar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “gaita”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “gaita”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Probably from Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍄𐍃 (gaits, “goat”). More at Portuguese gaita.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡaita/ [ˈɡai̯.t̪a]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aita
• Syllabification: gai‧ta

Noun

gaita f (plural gaitas)

1. (music) bagpipes
2. (colloquial) tripe, nonsense
3. gullet
4. (colloquial) gullet (neck)

Derived terms

• gaitero
• ni gaitas
• soplagaitas
• templar gaitas

Further reading

• “gaita”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025