quetzales

Noun

quetzal (plural quetzals or quetzales)

1. Any trogon of the genus Pharomacrus, especially a resplendent quetzal (Pharomacrus mocinno), which has very long tail feathers and is found in Guatemala and Costa Rica.
   • Included among the images that Rigoberta Menchú uses in order to subtly convey her people's ethnicity is an image of Guatemala as the "land of the quetzal."1997, Ann Marie Stock, Framing Latin American Cinema: Contemporary Critical Perspectives, page 80
2. A monetary unit used in Guatemala, equal to 100 centavos.
   • In 2002 Guatemala officially declared the U.S. dollar as legal tender to circulate in parallel to the national currency, the quetzal. This is not likely to last for long as the quetzal is not widely accepted and is considered a weak store of value.2005, Anastasia Xenias, “Dollarization: The End of Monetary Pluralism in South America?”, in Avery Plaw, editor, Frontiers of Diversity: Explorations in Contemporary Pluralism, page 109