măciucă

Romanian

Etymology

Uncertain. Often considered to be from the Vulgar Latin root *matteuca, itself from *mattea or Latin mateola + a suffix *-uca, of possibly Gallic origin (compare French massue, Portuguese maça, machuca, Old Portuguese massuca, Italian mazza, mazzocca, Venetian mazuco), or an expressive creation based on the root măc-. Compare also Italian maciulla, Spanish machucar. The first element may derive ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mat (“hoe, plow”).

Alternatively from Vulgar Latin mattiūca, itself from Late Latin mattia.

Noun

măciucă f (plural măciuci)

1. club, bludgeon

Derived terms

• măciulie