monco

Forms

monco m (plural moncos)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *muccus (“snot”), a variant of Latin mūcus (“mucus, snot”).^[2][3][1][4] Nascentes and Houaiss explain the ⟨n⟩ as the nasality of the initial ⟨m⟩ carried on into the first syllable.^[5][3]

The same Vulgar Latin form is Spanish moco, Catalan moc, Italian moccio and Romanian muc.^[6]

De Vaan connects the Latin noun with *mung- (“to wipe”), seen in ēmungō (“to wipe one's nose”), and reconstructs *(s)me/ouk-o- (“snot”); he compares Ancient Greek μύξα (múxa, “slime, mucus”).^[7] Wiktionary takes it from *mew-k- (“slimy, slippery”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to the 17th century, from a Lisbon source, and Cunha also gives the 17th century, with the sense “thick humour secreted in the nose”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1716) defines monco as the thick humour of the nose and refers to ranho; he already has monco de peru, the piece of red skin that hangs between the eyes of the turkey, especially when it puffs itself up.^[8] Vieira adds a botanical use: the flower of a red plant full of small black seeds that hangs like a turkey's monco.^[9] Informally the word also means dried nasal mucus, and Portugal has a variant monca.^[10][4]

Timeline

• 1600s – first records.^[3][2]
• 1716 – Bluteau defines monco and monco de peru.^[8]
• 1873 – Vieira records the botanical sense.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Thick nasal mucus; snot, ranho.^[3][4][1]
2. (informal) Dried nasal mucus; a booger.^[10][1]
3. monco de peru: the fleshy caruncle that hangs over a turkey's beak.^[3][11]

Related words

• muco
• Spanish moco

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. monco
3. ^ a b c d e f Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. monco
4. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. monco
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. monco
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5709
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. monco
9. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 4, 300
10. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. monco
11. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. monco