muñeca
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old Spanish munneca, from Old Spanish monneka (“milestone or landmark”) (a. 1011), from a pre-Roman substrate of Iberia, possibly pre-Indo-European.
Compare Basque muino (“hill”). Its original meaning was first 'milestone or landmark', then 'protuberance', from which both senses of 'wrist' and 'doll' come. Some have suggested it may have originated from monnula (“(female) friend”). Compare Spanish moño (“a bow, ribbon”) and muñón (“stump”); see also Portuguese boneca (“doll”). Attested as early as 1011, first attested as 'doll' in 1400.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
muñeca f (plural muñecas)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
- → Bikol Central: munyeka
- → Catalan: monyeca
- → Chamorro: muñeka
- → Galician: boneca
- → Hiligaynon: monyeka
- → Moroccan Arabic: منيكة (munīka)
- → Portuguese: boneca, bonecra
- → Portuguese: munheca
- → Tagalog: manyika
Further reading edit
- “muñeco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014