moucho

moucho

Galician

Moucho ("little owl")

Alternative forms

• noucho

Etymology

Debated; probably from an adjective meaning "blunted". Compare Portuguese mocho and Spanish mochuelo.

First attested in 1421.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmowt͡ʃo̝/

Noun

moucho m (plural mouchos)

1. little owl (Athene noctua)
   • 1421, M. Lucas Álvarez & P. Lucas Domínguez (eds.), El monasterio de San Clodio do Ribeiro en la Edad Media: estudio y documentos. Sada / A Coruña: Edicións do Castro, page 623:

     et outra leira jaz tras las casas da Quintãã, como vay topar aas pedras dos mouchos

     another field is behind the houses of Quintá, as it reaches the little owl stones

   Synonym: paxaro da morte

2. stool

   Synonyms: banqueta, tallo

Adjective

moucho m (feminine singular moucha, masculine plural mouchos, feminine plural mouchas)

1. crestless, blunted, polled

   Synonym: mouco

2. (figuratively) sad; melancholic

   Synonym: triste

References

• “moucho” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “moucho” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “moucho” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “moucho” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.