hueso

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish huesso, from Latin ossum, popular variant of os, ossis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ésth₁ (“bone”), *h₂óst. Compare Catalan os, French os, Interlingua osso, Italian osso, Portuguese osso, Romanian os, Sardinian ossu.

Political sense comes from comparing a dog looking for and defending a bone and a politician searching a position.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈw̝eso/ [ˈw̝e.so]
• IPA^(key): /ˈɡweso/ [ˈɡwe.so],
• IPA^(key): /ˈbweso/ [ˈbwe.so]

Noun

hueso m (plural huesos)

1. (anatomy) bone
2. (botany) stone, pit (the central part of some fruits, consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer (like those of peach, olive, avocado or mango))
3. (politics, Mexico, slang) political position (appointed or elected)
4. (Spain, informal) strict person

Derived terms

• a otro perro con ese hueso
• dar con sus huesos
• dar en hueso
• en los huesos
• hueso duro de roer (“tough cookie, tough nut to crack”)
• perro que no camina, no encuentra hueso
• pinchar en hueso
• quebrantahuesos

 

Related terms

• ososo
• huesudo