Inherited from Old Tupi kurusá, from krusá, borrowed from Portuguese cruz, from Old Galician-Portuguese cruz, from Latin crux, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-.

• IPA^(key): /kuruˈsa/
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: ku‧ru‧sá

kurusá (plural kurusá-itá)

1. (Christianity) cross
   • 1898 September 4, José Lourenço da Costa Aguiar, “Mahi Jesu-Christu u-pïcïrù-ianê ”, in Christu Muhençáua (overall work in Nheengatu and Portuguese), Petropolis: Pap. e Typ. Pacheco, Silva & C., page 31:

     ― Mamè-tahà Jesu-Christu umanú?
     ― Curuçà upé.

     ― Where did Jesus Christ die?
     ― On the cross.

2. (astronomy) Southern Cross

   Synonym: purakasara

• Marcel Twardowsky Avila (2021) “kurusá”, in Proposta de dicionário nheengatu-português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: USP, →DOI, page 416

From krusá.

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: ku‧ru‧sá

kurusá (possessable)

1. Língua Geral Amazônica and Língua Geral Paulista form of krusá (“cross”)

• Nheengatu: kurusá
• → Brazilian Portuguese: Curuçá

• Frei Onofre (1751) “Cruz”, in José Mariano da Conceição Velloso, editor, Dicionario portuguez, e brasiliano (overall work in Old Tupi and Portuguese), Lisbon: Officina Patriarcal, published 1795, page 27, column 2: “Curuçâ”
• José Joaquim Machado de Oliveira (c. 1850) “corruptela de cruz”, in Vocabulario elementar da Lingua Geral Brasilica (overall work in Portuguese); republished as José de Alcântara Machado, editor, Revista do Arquivo Municipal, volume 25, number 3, São Paulo, 1936 July, page 141: “CURUSSÁ”
• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “kurusá”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 246, column 1