Quinceañera is the Spanish word commonly used for the girl being honored at a fifteenth-birthday celebration.
The term combines quince, “fifteen,” with the feminine ending -añera in common usage. In English, quinceañera can refer either to the honoree or, informally, to the celebration itself. Context determines which meaning is intended.
The word is often written with the ñ and the accent mark: quinceañera. The ñ distinguishes Spanish words and the accent indicates the stressed syllable. English publications sometimes omit diacritics, but the fully accented spelling is standard Spanish.
A quinceañera is not the same as a madrina, who is a female sponsor or godmother-like supporter, or a dama, who may serve as a female court attendant. Those roles can appear at the same event but identify different people.