gorgojo

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin gurguliō, variant of curculiō. Coromines and Pascual posit a Vulgar Latin *gurgulius, back-derived from the Latin accusative gurguliōnem after speakers interpreted its ending as an augmentative (cf. Spanish -ón). They also acknowledge the possibility that gorgojo was simply inherited from the original Latin nominative. Compare Italian gorgoglione, alongside the Old Italian gorgoglio. For other Spanish animal names that appear to reflect the Latin nominative, cf. drago, pavo, and sierpe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡoɾˈɡoxo/ [ɡoɾˈɣ̞o.xo]
• Rhymes: -oxo
• Syllabification: gor‧go‧jo

Noun

gorgojo m (plural gorgojos)

1. grub
2. weevil

   Synonyms: curculiónido, picudo

3. (colloquial) small person

References

• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “gorgojo”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume III (G–Ma), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 175

Further reading

• “gorgojo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28