almud

English

Alternative forms

• almude

Etymology

From Spanish almud and Portuguese almude, both from Andalusian Arabic المُدّ (al-mudd), from Arabic مُدّ (mudd), probably via Aramaic 𐡬𐡣𐡩𐡠 (mdyʾ) and מוֹדְיָא (moḏyā) or Classical Syriac ܡܘܿܕܝܳܐ (moḏyā) from Akkadian 𒉘𒈨𒌍 (/⁠maddattu, middattu⁠/, “kind of vessel, unit of volume”). Doublet of almude. Cognate with Ancient Greek μόδιος (módios), Latin modius, French muid, and Dutch mud.

Noun

almud (plural almuds)

1. (historical) A traditional Spanish and Portuguese unit of dry measure or volume, highly variable by region and substance but often equivalent to about 4.6 liters (one celemin).
   • 1990, Carmen Diana Deere, Household and Class Relations, page 79:

     An almud is a measure of volume rather than weight; an almud of wheat equals about 22 pounds and an almud of potatoes 20 pounds.

   • 1997, Stephanie Wood, “Nahuatl Testaments of Rural Women”, in Indian Women of Early Mexico, page 174:

     Both sexes were equally familiar with and preferred the Spanish almud (equal to four quarts of seed)... over any indigenous measure.

2. (historical) A traditional unit of land area, nominally the amount of land that could be sown with one almud of seed.
3. (historical) A low, wide box used as a physical measure for this unit.
4. (historical) Alternative form of almude (“a Portuguese unit of measure”).

Coordinate terms

• (highly variable unit of dry measure): maquila (¹⁄₂ almud)

Anagrams

• Lumad

Spanish

Alternative forms

• almú (eye dialect)

Etymology

Borrowed from Andalusian Arabic المُدّ (al-mudd), from Arabic مُدّ (mudd), probably via Aramaic 𐡬𐡣𐡩𐡠 (mdyʾ) and מוֹדְיָא (moḏyā) or Classical Syriac ܡܘܿܕܝܳܐ (moḏyā) from Akkadian 𒉘𒈨𒌍 (/⁠maddattu, middattu⁠/, “kind of vessel, unit of volume”). Cognate with Ancient Greek μόδιος (módios) and Latin modius.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈmud/ [alˈmuð̞]
• Rhymes: -ud
• Syllabification: al‧mud

Noun

almud m (plural almudes)

1. (historical, chiefly Spain) synonym of celemín (a traditional unit of dry measure equivalent to about 4.6 liters)
2. (historical) almud (a traditional unit of dry measure of highly variable size)
3. (historical) almud (a traditional unit of land area of highly variable size)
4. (historical) almud (a low wide style of box traditionally used to measure almudes)

Coordinate terms

• (irregular unit of dry measure): maquila (¹⁄₂ almud)

Further reading

• “almud”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish almud, from Andalusian Arabic المُدّ (al-mudd), from Arabic مُدّ (mudd), probably via Aramaic 𐡬𐡣𐡩𐡠 (mdyʾ) and מוֹדְיָא (moḏyā) or Classical Syriac ܡܘܿܕܝܳܐ (moḏyā) from Akkadian 𒉘𒈨𒌍 (/⁠maddattu, middattu⁠/, “kind of vessel, unit of volume”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔalˈmud/ [ʔɐlˈmʊd̪̚]
• Rhymes: -ud
• Syllabification: al‧mud

Noun

almúd (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜎ᜔ᜋᜓᜇ᜔) (historical)

1. almud

Further reading

• “almud”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018