What does madrugada in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word madrugada in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use madrugada in Spanish.

The word madrugada in Spanish means early morning, get up early, come early, wee hours, small hours, be up until the wee hours of the morning, at dawn, early hours of the morning. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word madrugada

early morning

nombre femenino (primeras horas del día)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Hoy la temperatura bajó mucho durante la madrugada.
Today the temperature dropped sharply early in the morning.

get up early

verbo intransitivo (levantarse pronto)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Me voy a la cama que mañana tengo que madrugar.
I'm going to bed because tomorrow I have to get up early.

come early

verbo intransitivo (aparecer pronto)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
El resultado de la votación ha madrugado, han tardado sólo diez minutos.
The results of the voting came early, they only took ten minutes.

wee hours, small hours

(entrada la madrugada)

(plural noun: Noun always used in plural form--for example, "jeans," "scissors.")
Llegaron al hotel a altas horas de la madrugada y la recepción estaba cerrada.
They arrived at the hotel in the wee hours (or: small hours) of the morning and the reception desk was closed.

be up until the wee hours of the morning

locución verbal (acostarse tarde)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Me dieron las tantas de la madrugada estudiando para el examen.
I was up until the wee hours of the morning studying for my exam.

at dawn

locución adverbial (muy temprano)

(preposition: Relates noun or pronoun to another element of sentence--for example, "a picture of John," "She walked from my house to yours.")
Me levanté de madrugada para ir al aeropuerto.
I woke up at dawn to go to the airport.

early hours of the morning

(antes del amanecer)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Llegamos muy cansados a horas de la madrugada.
We arrived very tired in the early hours of the morning.

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Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.