matador

See also: Matador and matadór

English

A matadora in traditional garb.

Alternative forms

• matadore (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish matador (“killer”). Used in the English language as title for a bullfighter, however referred to as a torero in Spain.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈma.tə.dɔː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmæ.tə.dɔɹ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætədɔː(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: mat‧a‧dor

Noun

matador (plural matadors or matadores)

1. (bullfighting) The person whose aim is to kill the bull in a bullfight.
   • 1962, Arthur Miller, “The Bored and the Violent”, in Herbert Gold, editor, First Person Singular: Essays for the Sixties‎^[1], New York: Dial, published 1963, page 181:

     […] few of these boys know how to fight alone, and hardly any without a knife or a gun. They are not to be equated with matadors or boxers or Hemingway heroes. They are dangerous pack hounds who will not even expose themselves singly in the outfield.

   • 1968, James A. Michener, “Sevilla”, in Iberia, New York, NY: Dial Press, published 2015, →ISBN, page 317:

     The second is La Macarena, named after an Arabian princess, and she was preferred by another great matador, Joselito, and to see her leave her parish church of San Gil at one in the morning of Good Friday or return later in the day is held by many Sevillanos to be the most important thing that can happen during Holy Week.

   • 1985 June 9, William Kennedy, “The Last Ole”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     Hemingway's subject for the epilogue was the mano a mano (or hand-to-hand, a duel) between Spain's two leading matadors, Luis Miguel Dominguin and his brother-in-law, Antonio Ordonez.

2. (uncountable) A certain game of dominoes in which four dominoes (the 4-3, 5-2, 6-1, and double blank), called matadors, may be played at any time in any way.
3. (card games) The jack of clubs, or any other trump held in sequence with it, in the game of skat.
4. (card games) One of the three chief cards in ombre and quadrille.

Derived terms

• matadoress
• matadorial

Translations

bullfighter

• Bulgarian: матадор m (matador)
• Catalan: matador (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鬥牛士 / 斗牛士 (zh) (dòuniúshì)

• Czech: matador (cs) m
• Dutch: stierenvechter (nl)
• Esperanto: matadoro
• Finnish: matadori (fi)
• French: matador (fr) m
• German: Matador (de) m
• Greek: ταυρομάχος (el) (tavromáchos)
• Irish: tarbhadóir m, tarbhchomhraiceoir m
• Italian: matador m
• Japanese: マタドール (ja) (matadōru), 闘牛士 (ja) (とうぎゅうし, tōgyūshi)
• Korean: 부우사 (buusa)
• Persian: ماتادور (fa) (mâtâdor)
• Polish: matador (pl) m
• Portuguese: toureiro (pt) m, toureador m
• Russian: матадо́р (ru) m (matadór), тореадо́р (ru) m (toreadór)
• Spanish: matador (es) m, torero (es) m
• Swedish: matador (sv) c

See also

• bullfighting
• bull ring
• picador
• tauromachy
• toreador

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmatador]
• Hyphenation: me‧ta‧dor

Noun

matador m anim (female equivalent matadorka)

1. (bullfighting) matador (the person whose aim is to kill the bull in a bullfight)
   • 1930, Karel Čapek, Výlet do Španěl:

     Bledý matador jde znovu s mečem a muletou zabíjet podle pravidel hry; avšak býk se zaberanil a stojí se vztyčenou hlavou, se šíjí zježenou banderillami a jakoby přehozenou pláštěm krve.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of matador (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	matador	matadoři
genitive	matadora	matadorů
dative	matadorovi, matadoru	matadorům
accusative	matadora	matadory
vocative	matadore	matadoři
locative	matadorovi, matadoru	matadorech
instrumental	matadorem	matadory

Further reading

• “matador”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “matador”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Etymology

From Spanish matador.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -oːɐ̯

Noun

matador c (singular definite matadoren, plural indefinite matadorer)

1. matador (bullfighting)
2. tycoon

Declension

Declension of matador

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	matador	matadoren	matadorer	matadorerne
genitive	matadors	matadorens	matadorers	matadorernes

Proper noun

matador

1. Monopoly (board game)

References

• “matador” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish matador.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.ta.dɔʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

matador m (plural matadors)

1. (bullfighting) matador

Further reading

• “matador”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish matador.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈta.dɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -adɔr
• Syllabification: ma‧ta‧dor

Noun

matador m pers

1. matador (the person whose aim is to kill the bull in a bullfight)

Declension

Declension of matador

	singular	plural
nominative	matador	matadorzy/matadory (deprecative)
genitive	matadora	matadorów
dative	matadorowi	matadorom
accusative	matadora	matadorów
instrumental	matadorem	matadorami
locative	matadorze	matadorach
vocative	matadorze	matadorzy

Further reading

• “matador”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “matador”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Portuguese matar

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tōrem

Old Galician-Portuguese -dor

Portuguese -dor

Portuguese matador

From matar + -dor.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ma.taˈdoʁ/ [ma.taˈdoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ma.taˈdoʁ/ [ma.taˈdoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ma.taˈdoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ma.taˈdoʁ/ [ma.taˈdoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ma.taˈdoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐ.tɐˈdoɾ/ [mɐ.tɐˈðoɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐ.tɐˈdoɾ/ [mɐ.tɐˈðoɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐ.tɐˈdo.ɾi/

• Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -oɾ, (Brazil) -oʁ
• Hyphenation: ma‧ta‧dor

Adjective

matador (feminine matadora, masculine plural matadores, feminine plural matadoras)

1. which kills
2. (figurative) seductive

   olhar matador ― seductive look

Noun

matador m (plural matadores, feminine matadora, feminine plural matadoras)

1. killer (someone who kills)

Further reading

• “matador”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “matador”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French matador.

Noun

matador m (plural matadori)

1. (bullfighting) matador

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	matador	matadorul	matadori	matadorii
genitive-dative	matador	matadorului	matadori	matadorilor
vocative	matadorule		matadorilor

Spanish

Etymology

By surface analysis, matar (“kill”) +‎ -dor (agent suffix). May correspond to Latin mactātōrem (“slayer, killer, slaughterer”), but the origin of the base verb matar is disputed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mataˈdoɾ/ [ma.t̪aˈð̞oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ma‧ta‧dor

Noun

matador m (plural matadores, feminine matadora, feminine plural matadoras)

1. a slaughterer, a killer

   Synonym: asesino

2. (bullfighting) matador, a featured bullfighter at a bullfight event

   Synonym: diestro

Descendants

• → Danish: matador
• → English: matador
• → French: matador
• → German: Matador
• → Persian: ماتادور (mâtâdor)
• → Russian: матадор (matador)
• → Tagalog: matador
• → Turkish: matador

See also

• picador
• toreador

Further reading

• “matador”, 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
• “matador”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010

Swedish

Noun

matador c

1. (bullfighting) a matador

Declension

Declension of matador

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	matador	matadors
	definite	matadoren	matadorens
plural	indefinite	matadorer	matadorers
	definite	matadorerna	matadorernas

References

• “matador”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “matador”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “matador”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish matador.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /mataˈdoɾ/ [mɐ.t̪ɐˈd̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ma‧ta‧dor

Noun

matador (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜆᜇᜓᜇ᜔)

1. butcher

   Synonyms: matadero, magkakarne

2. (bullfighting) matador; bullfighter

   Synonyms: toreador, torero

Further reading

• “matador”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “matador”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018