muñeca

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish munneca, from Old Spanish monneka (“milestone or landmark”) (a. 1011), from a pre-Roman substrate of Iberia, possibly pre-Indo-European.

Compare Basque muino (“hill”). Its original meaning was first 'milestone or landmark', then 'protuberance', from which both senses of 'wrist' and 'doll' come. Some have suggested it may have originated from monnula (“(female) friend”). Compare Spanish moño (“a bow, ribbon”) and muñón (“stump”); see also Portuguese boneca (“doll”). Attested as early as 1011, first attested as 'doll' in 1400.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muˈɲeka/ [muˈɲe.ka]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eka
• Syllabification: mu‧ñe‧ca

Noun

muñeca f (plural muñecas)

1. (anatomy) wrist

   Synonym: carpo

2. female equivalent of muñeco (“doll”)

Derived terms

• casa de muñecas
• muñeca rusa
• muñeca vudú
• muñequera
• muñequero
• reposamuñecas

 

Related terms

• moño
• muñeco
• muñón

 

Descendants

• → Aymara: muñik’a
• → Bikol Central: munyeka
• → Catalan: monyeca
• → Chamorro: muñeka
• → Galician: boneca
• → Hiligaynon: monyeka
• → Moroccan Arabic: منيكة (munīka)
• → Portuguese: boneca, bonecra (obsolete or regional)
  • → Malay: boneka
    • Indonesian: boneka
  • → Tetum: boneka
• → Portuguese: munheca
• → Tagalog: manyika
• → Tausug: munyika'

Further reading

• “muñeco”, 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