capicúa (Spanish)

Where does "capicúa" come from?

The Spanish word 'capicúa,' used to describe a palindromic number, is a loanword borrowed from Catalan. Its history traces back to the literal phrase 'cap i cua,' which means 'head and tail' in Catalan, perfectly capturing the mirrored nature of the numbers it describes.

Full etymology tree

• capicúa (Spanish), 'palindromic number'
  • borrowed capicua (Catalan), 'palindromic number'
    • compound cap (Catalan), 'head'
    • compound cua (Catalan), 'queue, (line)'

Ancestors

• capicua (Catalan)

Cognates and doublets

• capicua (Portuguese)

Updated July 2026

More words starting with C

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris