enano

es-noun

enano m (plural enanos, feminine enana, feminine plural enanas)

enanos (plural)
enana (feminine)
enanas (feminine plural)

→ Cebuano: unano

→ Tagalog: unano

From Latin nānus, from Ancient Greek νᾶνος (nânos). Cognate with Portuguese anão. Compare English nano-.


coco

Borrowed from Portuguese côco (“bogeyman, grinning face”), probably from Latin coccum (“kernel, seed”).

bor+

Duérmete niño, duérmete ya… que viene el coco y te comerá.

Sleep child, sleep now… lest the bogeyman come and eat you.


leprechaun

Unadapted borrowing from English leprechaun, from Irish leipreachán.


elemental

(alchemy, folklore, mythology) elemental


llorona

rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines

(folklore) weeping woman (from the Latin American folkloric legend La Llorona)


vampiro

es-noun

vampiro m (plural vampiros, feminine vampiresa, feminine plural vampiresas)

vampiros (plural)
vampiresa (feminine)
vampiresas (feminine plural)

Borrowed from French vampire or German Vampir, from Hungarian vámpír, ultimately from Serbo-Croatian vàmpīr.


duende

→ Cebuano: dewende

→ Chamorro: duendes

→ English: duende

→ Portuguese: duende

→ Russian: дуэ́нде (duénde)

desctree

→ Tagalog: duwende, dwende — nonstandard, duende, duwinde, ruwinri — dialectal, Rizal, rare
→ English: duwende

→ Ukrainian: дуе́нде (duénde)

Inherited from Old Spanish duen de casa (“master of the house”). Compare Sicilian donni di casa. See more at dueño.

inh+

El duende de la Navidad vive en las ramas del manzano, pasa el tiempo subiendo y bajando, atareado con unir la luz del sol a la tierra y otras tareas similares. Cada año, en el invierno, se asoma a las ramas y mira a las estrellas y ve caer la […]

(Can we date this quote?), Raquel Cachafeiro Gil, El Duende de la Navidad, →ISBN, page 4:

(Iberian folklore) a small humanoid creature who invades homes at night to carry out mischief and scare the residents


genio

Borrowed from French génie, of Latin influence but based on Arabic جِنّ (jinn).

(folklore, mythology, fantasy) jinn, genie


doble

From Latin duplus or duplex; if from the former, it is uncertain whether it was inherited or not, and may have been taken from a Catalan or Provençal intermediate, as the final '-e' rather than '-o' is unexpected. If from the latter, it is possible that it came from a Vulgar Latin *duplem as a variant accusative to Latin duplex (rather than the normal duplicem), formed analogically. Alternatively, it may derive from duple, the vocative of duplus, though this is less likely. The word may have also simply undergone a change of suffix internally within Spanish; an old form doblo was attested, but only in a legal sense. Compare Galician dobre, Portuguese dobro. Cf. also duplo and dúplex, which were later borrowed from Latin and may be doublets.


encanto

Deverbal from encantar. Cognate with Portuguese encanto and Italian incanto.

(folklore) apparition, otherworldly entity


hipogrifo

(mythology, folklore, fantasy) hippogriff


ogro

es-noun

ogro m (plural ogros, feminine ogresa, feminine plural ogresas)

ogros (plural)
ogresa (feminine)
ogresas (feminine plural)


gnomo

Borrowed from New Latin gnomus, coined by Paracelsus as a synonym for pygmaeus (“pygmy”).


orco

Borrowed from Latin Orcus (“god of the underworld”), orcus. Doublet of huerco.


salamandra

From Latin salamandra, from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra).


cuco

es-noun

cuco m (plural cucos, feminine cuca, feminine plural cucas)

cucos (plural)
cuca (feminine)
cucas (feminine plural)

Borrowed from Portuguese coco, see more at Spanish Wikipedia.

(folklore) bogeyman (ghost or monster to scare children)


vodník

Borrowed from Russian водяно́й (vodjanój) or Czech vodník.


cafre

From Portuguese cafre, from Arabic كَافِر (kāfir, “infidel”).

(Philippines, folklore) ogre or giant believed to smoke cigars and live in old trees, especially balete (banyan) trees


dragona

(fantasy, mythology, folklore) (female equivalent of dragón); a dragoness, a female dragon


sátiro

From Latin satyrus, from Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos).


ondina

(alchemy, folklore) undine, water sprite


kikimora

Borrowed from Russian кики́мора (kikímora).


cocatriz

(folklore, mythology, fantasy, heraldry) cockatrice


mantícora

Borrowed from Latin mantichōra, from Ancient Greek μαρτιχόρας (martikhóras, “man-eater; tiger”), from Old Persian 𐎶𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹 (*martiya, “man, human being, mortal”) + 𐎧𐎺𐎠𐎼 (*χvāra, “eater”).

der

(mythology, folklore, fantasy) manticore


trasgo

Unknown. Possible etymologies include:
* from Latin trādux (“vine branch”), in the nominative (semantic connection is nebulous, possibly from the creatures hiding in vineyards in some folk legends);
* from Old Galician-Portuguese transfegar (“to transfigure, to transfuse”), from Latin transfigurare, relating to the creature's ability to shapeshift;
* from Ancient Greek τράγος (trágos, “male goat, lechery”), relating to mischief, its small stature, and other hircine attributes;
* from Old Italian strega (“witch, hag”), from Latin striga (“evil spirit, witch, etc.”).
* from a Gothic term for a goblin-like creature, introduced or reinforced during the Visigothic/Suebian period via Germanic folklore.
* from Old Spanish trasgreer or trasgueir (“make mischief”) (first attested in c. 15th century), from Latin transgredi, likewise referring to its mischievous nature. In which case, cognate to English transgress.

Tras de las exigencias de la bruja vinieron como era natural las de los trasgos.

1864, Meliton Martin, Pónos, part 2, page 31:

As was natural, after the demands of the witch came those of the goblins.

(Iberian folklore, mythology, fantasy) a mischievous mythological creature similar to a goblin, imp, or kobold found in legends of Portugal and Spain, with varying descriptions


Holandés Volador

el Holandés Volador (canonical masculine)

(nautical folklore) Flying Dutchman (mythical ghost ship)


capirote

(folklore) a type of tall pointed hat worn for certain festivals


cancerbero

es-noun

cancerbero m (plural cancerberos, feminine cancerbera, feminine plural cancerberas)

cancerberos (plural)
cancerbera (feminine)
cancerberas (feminine plural)


torito

→ English: torito

→ Northern Puebla Nahuatl: torito

(folklore, Guatemala, Mexico) A framework in the shape of a bull covered in fireworks, which is worn like a costume and set alight during various popular festivals.


huargo

(Norse mythology, folklore, fantasy) warg


hombre del saco

hombre del saco m (plural hombres del saco)


asuán

Borrowed from Tagalog aswang (or from the same word in other Philippine languages, such as Cebuano aswang, Hiligaynon aswang, etc).

(Philippines, folklore) a vampirelike ghoul from Philippine myth


oricuerno

(Spanish folklore, mythology, fantasy) a mythological, chimerical creature that consists of unicorn with a purple head, a white body, the legs of a deer, the tail of a lion, blue eyes, its horn being long and twisted, also with wings on its hooves


alicornio

(folklore, mythology, now historical) alicorn (horn of a unicorn)


merlión

(mythology, folklore) merlion, a chimerical creature having the head of a lion and the body of a fish, which is a national symbol of Singapore


niño cambiado

niño cambiado m (plural niños cambiados, feminine niña cambiada, feminine plural niñas cambiadas)

niños cambiados (plural)
niña cambiada (feminine)
niñas cambiadas (feminine plural)


domovói

Borrowed from Russian домово́й (domovój).


Cipitío

Representing Pipil cipit or Pipil cipote, both meaning "child."

(El Salvador, folklore) A legendary character revolving around the Siguanaba and Cadejo legends, portrayed as an 8-10-year-old boy with a large conical hat and a pot belly.


silampa

(Panama, folklore) A wandering female ghost.


imbunche

Los Brujos tienen la costumbre de robar niños varones de seis meses a un año de edad, para hacerlos Imbunches, lo cual realizan obstruyendo todos los agujeros naturales del cuerpo de sus pequeñas víctimas. Si los padres del niño llegan a descubrir su paradero, los Brujos le lanzan una rociada y el Imbunche muere, quedando su cadáver en el mismo sitio.

1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 68:

The Sorcerers have a habit of stealing male children between six months and one year of age to turn them into Imbunches, which they do by plugging all the natural holes of their small victims' bodies. If the child's parents manage to discover their whereabouts, the Sorcerers release a spray and the Imbunche dies, leaving its corpse in the same place.

(folklore) imbunche (in Chilote folklore, a deformed humanoid monster that protects the entrance to a warlock's cave)


tulevieja

From tule (“a type of hat”) + vieja (“old woman, hag”).

com

(Costa Rica and Panama folklore) an errant female ghost who wears a tule hat, with a thick body, swollen breasts, sometimes leaking milk, and tangled hair.