orbayu – drizzle – llovizna

[is]

orbayu: pronounced Ohr-bah-YOO. Sustantivu (noun). A very light continuous rain that is stronger than mist but less than a shower. A fine, gentle, misty precipitation typical of Asturias and Galicia consisting of droplets of water less than 0.5mm in diameter, often accompanied by a dense fog.

Synonyms at orbayada, urbayada, orpín, muga (humidity), borrina (fog). English equivalents at brume, ground clouds, haze, spray rain, or the German ‘Sprühregen’. In the Basque Country, the same weather phenomenon is known as ‘txiri miri’ (pronounced Chee-ry MEE-ry). The verb form is orbayar (Ohr-bah-YAHR).

In some southwestern counties of Asturias such as Somiedu (Somiedo), the word is pronounced with a ‘ts’ sound, as in urbal.lu (Oor-bah-TSOO). In Galician-Asturian, it is orbayo.

Usage examples:

Nun vaigas al monte que ta orbayando. (Don’t go into the mountains because there’s a misty rainfall)
Eiquí n’Ayande ia raru’l dia que nun urbaya. (Here in County Ayande/Allande, it is indeed a rare day when it does not rain lightly)
Cun esta urbayada mueyase ún dafeitu. (You get soaking wet in this drizzle)
Tuvo orbayando toa la nueite. (It drizzled throughout the night)
Vieno l’orbal.lu. (The mist settled in)
Muga, murmiana, prúa, pruga, pruando, orpinando, orbayando. (Word play indicating different types of words for misty rain)

Folk wisdom:

La borrina del orbayu ye madrina y del sol vecina. (The fog of the spray rain is a godmother and the sun’s neighbor).
El orbayu per San Xuan quita el vino y nun da pan. (Drizzy rain in the summer solstice means less wine and no bread)

[Art]

Pues, sé porque Is escbió sobre "orbayu". Es una palabra que necesitamos en esa epoca. ¡Hay mucha orbayu en Asturias ahora!

Well, I know why Is wrote about "orbayu". This is a word that we need in this period. There's a lot of orbayu (drizzle) in Asturias now!