anaco

Galician

Etymology

Unknown. Perhaps from a hypothetical Celtic *annos + -akko-, cognate of Latin pannus (“cloth”); in that case, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- (“fabric”). Attested since the 15th century.

Cognate with Portuguese naco, Spanish añicos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈnako/ [aˈnɑ.kʊ]
• Rhymes: -ako
• Hyphenation: a‧na‧co

Noun

anaco m (plural anacos)

1. piece, fragment, portion
2. (figurative) a little time
3. rag
   • 1457, Fernando R. Tato Plaza, editor, Libro de notas de Álvaro Pérez, notario da Terra de Rianxo e Postmarcos, Santiago: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 179:

     hũu anaco de tapete vello

     a rag from an old rug

Synonyms

• cacho, pedazo

Derived terms

• anaquiño (“a little fragment”)
• anaquizar (“to break into pieces”)
• bo anaco (“a relatively large fragment or quantity”, literally “good fragment”)
• esnacar (“to break into pieces”)
• esnaquizar (“to break into pieces”)

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “anaco”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “anaco”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “anaco”, 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), “anaco”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “anaco”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
• “anaco”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “anaco”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Quechua anacu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈnako/ [aˈna.ko]
• Rhymes: -ako
• Syllabification: a‧na‧co

Noun

anaco m (plural anacos)

1. A type of cloth worn by Andean women.
2. mountain immortelle

Further reading

• “anaco”, 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