"monkey" in seven languages
Meaningmonkey
Spanish
/ˈmono/
masc.other source · uncertain; perhaps from Arabic maymūn 'monkey' (debated)
As an adjective in Spain, mono means 'cute'.
French
/sɛ̃ʒ/
masc.inherited
Italian
/ˈʃimmja/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
/maˈkaku/
masc.other source · an African (Bantu) word
Romanian
/majˈmutsə/
fem.other source · Turkish maymun + diminutive -uță
Catalan
/ˈmonə/
fem.other source · of uncertain origin (as Spanish mono)
Small monkeys are also called mico.
English
/ˈmʌŋki/
other source · probably Low German (Moneke, the ape's son in Reynard the Fox)
The Latin ancestor
SĪMIUM / SĪMIAM‘ape, monkey’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French and Italian kept Latin SĪMIA; Spanish uses mono, of disputed origin, and keeps simio as a learned word for apes.
English relatives: simian
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In a sentence
- esLos monos se columpian en los árboles.
- frLes singes se balancent dans les arbres.
- itLe scimmie si dondolano sugli alberi.
- ptOs macacos estão se balançando nas árvores.
- roMaimuțele se leagănă în copaci.
- caLes mones es gronxen als arbres.
- enThe monkeys are swinging from the trees.