maraca
UK[məˈræk.ə]US[məˈrɑː.kə]
n
A percussion instrument consisting of a hollow gourd or a gourd-shaped container filled with dried seeds or beans and shaken to produce a rhythmic sound.
Etymology
The maraca's name is a direct loan from Portuguese, adopted from the Tupi word 'mbaraka'. This term originally referred to a type of rattle used in ritual and musical contexts by Indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin. European explorers and colonists encountered the instrument and its name, incorporating both into their own languages. The word traveled from South American indigenous languages into Portuguese and Spanish, and from there into global English, retaining its specific reference to the shaken percussion instrument.
Analysis
The word 'maraca' is a simplex loanword from Portuguese, which in turn borrowed it from a Tupi-Guarani (Indigenous Brazilian) language term.
Examples
The percussionist added a lively rhythm by shaking a pair of maracas.
The sound of the maraca is essential to many Latin American music genres.
She filled the empty gourd with pebbles to make a simple maraca.