duende
/duːˈɛndeɪ
/noun [mass noun]
1A quality of passion and inspiration.In addition to its destabilizing qualities, Garcia Lorca associates duende with ever-present danger, death, and renewal....
- We diminish, by calling it atmosphere, a dark quality closer to Lorca's duende.
- For those who have experienced duende this is not an honest picture of reality.
1.1 [count noun] A spirit.They were visited at times by duendes....
- The duende can cause disease, but placing gourds of food for them in a doorway will prevent an epidemic.
- A character specific to the Sierra region is the duende, a large-eyed sprite who wears a hat and who preys on children.
Origin
1920s: from Spanish, contraction of duen de casa, from dueño de casa 'owner of the house'.