moyo

Forms

moyo m (plural moyos)^[1] Old Spanish documents write moyos, moios and moos.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin modius (“a dry measure, peck”).^[3][1][4][5] The Latin noun is formed from modus (“measure”) with the suffix -ius.^[1][6] Corominas lists this word as the inherited form beside the learned modio, taken from the same Latin word in the mid-17th century.^[4][5]

The same Latin word is Portuguese moio, Galician moio, French muid and Italian moggio.^[1][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word to 962.^[4] DEMel has moios in a document of San Millán de la Cogolla of about 949.^[2] In literary texts it first appears in the Libro de Apolonio (c. 1240, in a 14th-century copy), where the hero offers çient mil moyos “a hundred thousand moyos” of wheat, and in the Fuero Juzgo (c. 1250–1260), which limits interest on a loan of grain: si tomar dos moyos de tres “if he takes two moyos for three”.^[9] In both it is a measure of grain.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The 13th-century Spanish Gospels use moyo for the vessel under which no one hides a lamp, rendering Latin modius.^[9] A royal charter of 1261 makes the moyo of Valladolid, of sixteen cántaras, the largest measure for wine.^[9][10] Alfonso X's prose uses it for liquids.^[11]

The Diccionario de Autoridades describes it as a Castilian measure for liquids and dry goods, by then used only for liquids in Galicia and elsewhere, of eight cántaras; it also records moyo as a count of 110 roof tiles.^[12] The Academy's 1884 edition gives eight cántaras or 129 litres; the 1899 edition sixteen cántaras or 258 litres, used in Castile for wine and in Galicia for dry goods.^[13][14] The DLE no longer gives a size.^[3] In Leonese the moyo is a wine measure of sixteen cántaros.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 949 – DEMel's earliest record, moios, in a document of San Millán de la Cogolla.^[2]
• 962 – Corominas's date of first record.^[4]
• c. 1240 – the Libro de Apolonio has moyos of wheat (in a 14th-century copy).^[9]
• 1261 – a royal charter fixes the moyo of Valladolid, of sixteen cántaras, as the largest wine measure.^[9]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the measure and the count of 110 tiles.^[12]
• 1899 – the Academy gives it as sixteen cántaras or 258 litres.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A measure of capacity for wine, and in some areas for dry goods, traditionally of sixteen cántaras, about 258 litres.^[3][1][16]

Related words

• modio
• modo
• Latin modius
• Portuguese moio
• French muid

Usage notes

In the Canary Islands moyo (also mollo, molle) is a different word, “sheaf”, from Portuguese molho.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock
3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. moyo
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. modo
5. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. modius
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2255
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. muid
9. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. moyo
10. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 629
11. ^ Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. moyo
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 620
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 722
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 677
15. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. moyo
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. moyo
17. ^ Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. moyo