faena

American  

[fah-ey-nuh] / fɑˈeɪ nə /

noun

1. the final third of a bullfight in which the matador uses a muleta and the sword in making the final series of passes preparatory to the kill.

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faena British  

/ faˈena /

noun

1. bullfighting the matador's final series of passes with sword and cape before the kill

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Etymology

Origin of faena

1925–30; < Spanish: literally, task < Catalan < Latin facienda, neuter plural (taken as feminine singular) of faciendum what is to be done, gerund of facere to do, make; hacienda

Example Sentences

At the end of his faena, Ord��ez stood in the arena as a friend scissored off his coleta�the bullfighter's pigtail�to mark his retirement from the ring.

From Time Magazine Archive

Now the essence of the greatest emotional appeal of bullfighting is the feeling of immortality that the bullfighter feels in the middle of a great faena and that he gives to the spectators.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is the faena to go through first—a series of passes with the scarlet flag.

From The Harmsworth Magazine, v. 1, 1898-1899, No. 2 by Various