miñoca

Galician

Miñoca ("earthworm")

Alternative forms

• binoca, binocra, mañoca, mexoca, minoca, mioca, miocra, moca (dialectal forms)
• minhoca (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Uncertain. Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese miuca (first attested in the 15th century). Cognate with Portuguese minhoca, Asturian milu and meruca; perhaps from *milo- + -oca or *milokka, from a substrate language. If related or derived from Proto-Celtic *mīlom (“animal”), then from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₁l- (“small animal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mĩˈɲɔ.kɐ], [mĩˈɲo.kɐ]

Noun

miñoca f (plural miñocas)

1. earthworm

   Synonyms: bichoco, lombriga

   • c. 1409, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Tratado de Albeitaria, Santiago de Compostela: Centro Ramón Piñeiro, page 131:

     Para esto ual a çebolla assada pisada con miucas da terra et con as llesmez et con manteyga rretuda desuu, todo amasado et coyto et meixudo todo ataa que se tome espeso como jngento

     for this is valid roasted onion crushed with earthworms and with slugs and melted butter, all together, kneaded and cooked and stirred till is thick as an ointment

   • 1858, O Seor Pedro, Romance Gallego..., Santiago: Imprenta de Manuel Mirás, page 2:

     Deixáradesme ir pra terra, pra que as miñocas as tripas e os ósos me esfuracasen e me sugasen axiña

     You'll let me go to the earth, for the earthworms to drill and suck my guts and my bones

   • 1894, Luís Otero Pimentel, Truada de rapaces:

     Dempois vin dúas lavandeiras que depenicaban unha espiga de trigo na leira de Xan de Pedreira, unha pomba que voaba pró souto de Fonte Boa, unha péga que fuxía de un lagarteiro, catro corvos que espaturraban un canciño morto na carballeira, un melro que asubiaba entre as follas dun cereixo, un carpinteiro que facía o burato pró seu niño; e unha laverca que rebulía no aire, con unha miñoquiña no pico.

     After this I saw two wagtails which were pecking a wheat spike at the field of Xan de Pedreira, a dove flying to the wood of Fonte Boa, a magpie fleeing from a kestrel, four ravens which were clawing at a dead pup at the oak grove, a blackbird whistling in the leaves of a cherry tree, a woodpecker making the hole of its nest; and a lark fluttering in the air with a little earthworm in its beak.

2. lugworm, sandworm

   Synonyms: bichoco, miñoca brava, senrada

3. ragworm

   Synonyms: bichoco, maino

Derived terms

• miñoca de mar
• miñoca de río
• morrer á miñoca

References

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “miuca”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “miñoca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “miñoca”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “miñoca”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN