vicuña

noun bee-KOO-nyah Rare

Origin: Quechua wik'uña

Usage Note

Vicuña is a wild South American camelid native to the Andes, prized for producing some of the world's finest natural fibre. It is legally protected and cannot be farmed, so lana de vicuña commands extremely high prices. The word comes directly from Quechua and is one of several Andean animal names that entered Spanish unchanged.

Examples

"La vicuña vive en los Andes."

Natural Translation

The vicuña lives in the Andes.

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