monaguillo

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish *monago (“monk”, preliterary; cf. Old Leonese monago) +‎ -illo (diminutive ending).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /monaˈɡiʝo/ [mo.naˈɣ̞i.ʝo]

• IPA^(key): (most of Spain and Latin America) /monaˈɡiʝo/ [mo.naˈɣ̞i.ʝo]
• IPA^(key): (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines) /monaˈɡiʎo/ [mo.naˈɣ̞i.ʎo]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /monaˈɡiʃo/ [mo.naˈɣ̞i.ʃo]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /monaˈɡiʒo/ [mo.naˈɣ̞i.ʒo]

 

• Rhymes: -iʝo

• Rhymes: -iʝo
• Rhymes: -iʎo
• Rhymes: -iʃo
• Rhymes: -iʒo

• Syllabification: mo‧na‧gui‧llo

Noun

monaguillo m (plural monaguillos)

1. Alternative form of monacillo (“altar boy, acolyte”)

   Synonyms: acólito, monago

   • 1994, José Ángel Mañas, chapter VII, in Historias del Kronen, Barcelona: Ediciones Destino, →ISBN, page 101:

     —Hay que ser un poco monaguillo, Carlitos. Me he camelado a mi primo para que se ponga en mi lugar hoy.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

References

• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1985) “monje”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume IV (Me–Re), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 128

Further reading

• “monaguillo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10