polichinelo
Portuguese, noun/po.li.ʃiˈnɛ.lu/
polichinelo is spelled P-O-L-I-C-H-I-N-E-L-O (11 letters) and appears about once in every 10 million words in written Portuguese, the 95,562nd most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Polichinelo is a Portuguese masculine noun meaning “Pulcinella, Punchinello (a short clown in the commedia dell'arte)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “personagem que, no teatro, representa o homem do povo como um tipo rude e pouco confiável, mas esperto”.
What does polichinelo mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinePulcinella, Punchinello (a short clown in the commedia dell'arte)
- 2
masculinejumping jack (exercise performed by jumping with the legs spread wide and the hands touching overhead)
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
noun: 1. personagem que, no teatro, representa o homem do povo como um tipo rude e pouco confiável, mas esperto 2. movimento corporal que consiste-se de a partir duma posição em pé com pernas juntas e braços ao lado do corpo, elevar os braços acima da cabeça aproximando as mãos ao mesmo tempo em que se afasta as pernas com um leve saltitar
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of polichinelo
- polichinelos plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce polichinelo?
- Brazil /po.li.ʃiˈnɛ.lu/
- Portugal /pɔ.li.ʃiˈnɛ.lu/
- Portugal /pu.li.ʃiˈnɛ.lu/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is polichinelo in Portuguese?
polichinelo appears about once in every 10 million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).