macaco

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈkeɪkəʊ/, /məˈkɑːkoʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Portuguese macaco (“monkey”). Doublet of macaque.

Noun

macaco (plural macacos or macacoes)

1. A macaque, or similar monkey.

Descendants

• → Welsh: macaco

Etymology 2

From French mococo, probably ultimately from Malagasy maka, maki (“lemur”).

An illustration from 1788 of a ring-tailed lemur, then known as the ring-tailed maca(u)co.

Alternative forms

• macauco, maucaco

Noun

macaco (plural macacos or macacoes)

1. (obsolete) Any of several species of lemur, including the white-headed lemur, ruffed lemur, and ring-tailed lemur.

Derived terms

• ring-tailed macaco, ring-tailed macauco
• crowned macauco

Anagrams

• Cocama, accoma

Italian

Alternative forms

• macacco

Etymology

From Portuguese macaco, possibly from a Bantu language.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈka.ko/
• Rhymes: -ako
• Hyphenation: ma‧cà‧co

Noun

macaco m (plural macachi)

1. macaque
2. fool, dunce

Mirandese

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese macaco.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈkaku/ [mɐˈka.ku]
• Rhymes: -aku
• Syllabification: ma‧ca‧co

Noun

macaco m (plural macacos)

1. monkey
2. a person that imitates others
3. a treacherous, deceitful person

References

• Ferreira, Amadeu; Ferreira, José Pedro Cardona (2003–2022), “macaco”, in Dicionário de Mirandês-Português [Mirandese-Portuguese Dictionary].

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈka.ku/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈka.ku/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈka.ko/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐˈka.ku/

• Rhymes: -aku
• Hyphenation: ma‧ca‧co

Etymology 1

macaco (etymology 1, noun 1 sense 1)

macaco (etymology 1, noun 2 sense 1)

Unknown. Thought to have been borrowed from a Bantu language. Bantu maka, "cat", comes from -mañga (an old East African Bantu word for the sea-coast, often applied to any strange or foreign product). But it seems unlikely that the Bantu would have used such a word to denote familiar animals like apes and monkeys. However, none of the many Bantu words for apes and monkeys resembles "macaco". Other suggested derivations include:

• from Kongo makaku (“monkeys”)
• from a language of Madagascar (compare macaco, macauco, maucaco (“any of several lemurs”), perhaps related to maky);
• from Kari'na macaca (“simian”), though it may have been loaned into Galibi from a language of African slaves;
• from dialectal French macao (“cat; monkey; long-tailed monkey”), allegedly used in Normandy and Berry.

Noun

macaco m (plural macacos, feminine macaca, feminine plural macacas)

2. monkey; ape

   Synonyms: símio, mono

3. (derogatory) ape; savage (an uncivilised or unruly person)

   Synonyms: bárbaro, selvagem

4. (derogatory) monster; freak (a hideous person)

   Synonyms: monstro, aberração, mostrengo

5. (Brazil, offensive, ethnic slur) monkey (derogatory term for a black person)

Usage notes

• A distinction is not commonly made between apes and monkeys in Portuguese. Where it is, mono is used for apes and macaco for middle-sized simians. A more common distinction is made between macacos and micos (“small, long-tailed simians”).

Derived terms

• cada macaco no seu galho
• fato-macaco / fato de macaco
• ir pentear macacos
• macacada
• macacagem
• macacal
• macacão
• macacar
• macaco velho
• macaco-aranha
• macaco-barrigudo
• macaco-da-noite
• macaco-de-nariz-branco
• macaco-esquilo
• macaco-gritador
• macaco-inglês
• macaco-japonês
• macaco-leão
• macaco-prego
• macaco-vervet
• macacoa
• macacos me mordam
• macaquear
• macaqueiro
• macaquice
• macaquinho
• pente-de-macaco
• Rei Macaco

Noun

macaco m (plural macacos)

2. jack (device for raising and supporting a heavy object)
3. (Portugal, informal) a booger (a piece of solid or semi-solid mucus)

   Synonym: catota

Descendants

Descendants

• → Catalan: macaco
• → English: macaco
  • → Welsh: macaco
• → French: macaque (see there for further descendants)
• → Hunsrik: Makack
• → Italian: macaco
• → Japanese: マカク (makaku)
• → Juba Arabic: makaaku
• → Mirandese: macaco
• → Língua Geral Amazônica: makaka
  • Nheengatu: makaka
• → Spanish: macaco
• → Saramaccan: makáku

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

macaco

1. first-person singular present indicative of macacar

Further reading

• “macaco”, in Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisboa: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 2001–2026
• “macaco”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “macaco”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese macaco, possibly from a Bantu language.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈkako/ [maˈka.ko]
• Rhymes: -ako
• Syllabification: ma‧ca‧co

Noun

macaco m (plural macacos)

1. macaque
2. hobgoblin, bogeyman
3. (South America, derogatory, offensive, racist) Brazilian

   Synonyms: brasileño, (colloquial) brasilero

4. (Louisiana) monkey

   Synonyms: mono, chango, maimón, mico, simio

Adjective

macaco (feminine macaca, masculine plural macacos, feminine plural macacas)

1. (slang) ugly, misshapen, deformed, squat

Further reading

• “macaco”, 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