Today’s Spanish word of the day is “oído”. It’s a masculine noun meaning “hearing” or “ear”, in particular the inner ear.
Confusingly, there is another word in Spanish that also translates as ear: “oreja”. However, “oreja” refers more to the outer ear, for example the fleshy part where you might have a piercing. “Oído” refers more to the inner ear, and the organ of hearing.
The word “oído” comes from Latin auditus, meaning “the act of hearing”. This is also the root of the English word “audit”, which originally meant “a hearing”, and is related to English words such as “audio” and “audible”.
“Oído” is also related to the Spanish verb “oír”, meaning “to hear”.
Example sentences
Me duele el oído derecho.
My right ear hurts.
El médico me dijo que tengo una infección en el oído.
The doctor told me I have an ear infection.
El oído de Beethoven empezó a fallar cuando tenía solo 26 años.
Beethoven’s hearing began to fail when he was only 26 years old.
A veces me zumba el oído cuando hay mucho ruido.
Sometimes my ear rings when there’s a lot of noise.
Tiene buen oído para la música.
He/she has a good ear for music.
