faena

Borrowed from Spanish faena. Doublet of hacienda and fazenda.

• IPA^(key): /fɑˈeɪ.nə/
• Hyphenation: fa‧e‧na

faena (plural faenas)

1. (bullfighting) A series of passes performed by a matador with a muleta or a sword before the kill.
   • 2013, James A. Michener, Iberia, Dial Press, →ISBN, page 736:

     Faena is the vital third act in which the matador exhibits his skill with the muleta. Tradition requires that during the faena he keep his sword in his right hand, which usually also holds the muleta. Experts judge that the excellence of any single fight depends about sixty to seventy percent on the faena, which can excuse poor work elsewhere.

• feina

Inherited from Old Catalan faena, from Latin facienda. Compare Spanish faena and Portuguese faina.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [fəˈe.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [faˈe.na]
• Hyphenation: fa‧e‧na

faena f (plural faenes)

1. (Valencia) work, job

   Synonym: treball

• “faena”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “faena”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “faena” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “faena”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Borrowed from Spanish faena.

• IPA^(key): /fa.e.na/

faena f (plural faenas)

1. (bullfighting) faena

faena

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of faenum

• IPA^(key): /faˈena/ [faˈe.na]
• Rhymes: -ena
• Syllabification: fa‧e‧na

From Old Catalan faena (“task, chore”) (modern Catalan feina), from Latin facenda (“things to do”), from faciō. Compare Portuguese faina. Doublet of hacienda.

faena f (plural faenas)

1. task, job; duty

   Synonyms: chamba, quehacer, tarea

2. compulsory labour or work

   Synonym: quehacer

3. struggle
4. dirty trick
5. pity; shame
6. (bullfighting) faena (series of passes performed by a matador with cape or sword before the kill)

faena

1. inflection of faenar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “faena”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025