muñeca

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish munneca, from a pre-Roman language, possibly a pre-Indo-European substrate. Compare Basque muno (“colina”). Its original meaning was 'protuberance', from which both senses of 'wrist' and 'doll' come. Compare Spanish moño (“a bow, ribbon”) and muñón (“stump”); see also Portuguese boneca (“doll”)

Noun

muñeca f (plural muñecas)

1. (anatomy) wrist
2. doll (figure)
3. (colloquial) chick, babe, doll (attractive woman)

Synonyms

• (wrist): carpo

Related terms

• muñeco
• muñequera
• muñequero
• moño
• muñón

Descendants

• → Galician: boneca
• → Portuguese: boneca
  • → Malay: boneka
    • Indonesian: boneka