mezquino

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /meθˈkino/ [meθˈki.no]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /mesˈkino/ [mesˈki.no]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ino
• Syllabification: mez‧qui‧no

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish mesquino (“poor; beggar, homeless”), also attested in the medieval period as mezquino, from Arabic مِسْكِين (miskīn, “poor”). The sense of “stingy” developed in the early modern period. Compare Portuguese mesquinho.

Adjective

mezquino (feminine mezquina, masculine plural mezquinos, feminine plural mezquinas)

1. miserly, mean, stingy

   Era un padre mezquino, y a sus hijos no les compraba dulces no por salud sino por ahorrar.

   He was a stingy father, who wouldn't buy his children sweets, not for their health but to save money.

2. petty, small-minded

   Sería mezquino de mi parte no perdonarte por ello cuando no tenías toda la información sobre la situación.

   It would be petty of me to not forgive you for it when you did not have all the information about the situation.

Derived terms

• mezquinar
• mezquindad

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

mezquino

1. first-person singular present indicative of mezquinar

Further reading

• “mezquino”, 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