escama
scale (fish/reptile)
noun ehs-KAH-mah Rare
Origin: From Latin squama (scale).
Also means
flake
Usage Note
Escama refers to the hard overlapping scales of a fish or reptile. In a broader sense it can mean a flake of skin (escamas de caspa, dandruff flakes). The verb escamar means to scale a fish and also, colloquially, to make someone suspicious.
Examples
"Limpió las escamas del pescado."
Natural Translation
She cleaned the scales off the fish.

Free starter pack
Building your Spanish vocabulary?
Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.
Related Words
Explore Spanish by topic
SpanishNow
6 min read