quinceañera

• quinceanera
• (short) quince

quinceañera dresses parading in Mexico City

Borrowed from Spanish quinceañera (literally “fifteen-year-old”), feminine of quinceañero, from quince años (“fifteen years”) + -ero.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌkɪnseɪ.ənˈjɛɹə/, /ˌkɪnsənˈjɛɹə/
• Rhymes: -ɛɹə

quinceañera (plural quinceañeras)

1. (chiefly US) The fifteenth birthday and particularly the celebration and ceremony surrounding it for a young Latina woman.
   • 1987, Texas Monthly:

     Any given night will find moms with their shoulders mounded with chrysanthemums and daughters decked out in quinceañera lace.

• sweet seventeen
• sweet sixteen

From quince años (“fifteen years”) +‎ -era, with implied fiesta (“party”) when referring to the celebration.

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˌkinθeaˈɲeɾa/ [ˌkĩn̟.θe.aˈɲe.ɾa]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /ˌkinseaˈɲeɾa/ [ˌkĩn.se.aˈɲe.ɾa]
• Rhymes: -eɾa
• Syllabification: quin‧ce‧a‧ñe‧ra

quinceañera f (plural quinceañeras)

1. female equivalent of quinceañero: fifteen-year-old (girl)
2. (Latin America, chiefly Mexico and US, only in the feminine) quinceañera (fifteenth birthday celebration for a young woman)

   Synonyms: fiesta de quince años, fiesta de quince, quinceaños