Etymologically
Log in

mango

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmaŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmaŋ.ɡo][1]

Forms

mangō m (genitive mangōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is probably Greek, compare Ancient Greek μάγγανον (mánganon, “charm, means of bewitching”).[2][3] Wiktionary and Köbler connect it with μαγγανεύω (manganeúō, “to use charms; to trick out”), so that it would mean one who dresses up his wares, but call the origin uncertain.[1][4] Etymonline cites Buck's view that it is a loanword describing one who adorns his wares to make them look more valuable.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, quoted by Nonius, says some are so trimmed, polished and oiled that they look like a slave-dealer's slaves.[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a dealer in slaves, and Seneca says such dealers hide every defect with some embellishment.[2][3] Martial mentions a slave-dealer asking a hundred thousand for a boy.[3][6] It was also a dealer in other wares, as Pliny the Elder's dealers in cassia bark, and a polisher of gems, and Quintilian uses it of one who makes up his goods to deceive.[2][6]

In medieval Latin it was a swindler, a barterer or a merchant, and British writers used it of slave-dealers.[7][8] It was borrowed early into Germanic, giving Old English mangere (“merchant”), the source of English monger.[5]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a slave-dealer.[2][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca describes their tricks.[3][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of other dealers.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A slave-dealer.[2][1]
  2. A dealer in other goods, especially one who dresses up his wares.[2][9]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A swindler; a merchant.[7]

Word family

  • mangōnicō
  • mangōnicus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn