mico

See also: Mico, mico-, miço, and míco

English

Etymology

From Spanish or Portuguese mico.

Noun

mico (plural micos)

1. A small South American monkey (Mico melanurus, syn. Callithrix melanura), allied to the marmoset.

Usage notes

• The name was originally applied to an albino variety.

Synonyms

• (Mico melanurus): black-tailed marmoset

References

• “mico”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• ICOM, omic

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish mico.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈmi.ku]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈmi.ko]

• Audio (Valencia):

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Noun

mico m (plural micos)

1. monkey

Further reading

• “mico” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “mico”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “mico” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “mico” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *meyk- (“to shimmer”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.koː/, [ˈmɪkoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ko/, [ˈmiːko]

Verb

micō (present infinitive micāre, perfect active micuī or micāvī); first conjugation, no passive, no supine stem

1. to vibrate, quiver
2. to twinkle, glitter, flash, gleam, beam, shine, to be bright

   Synonyms: candeō, splendeō, niteō, ēniteō, fulgeō, resplendeō

3. to tremble
4. to beat (of the pulse)

Conjugation

• The normal Classical perfect is micuī. Perfect micāvī is found extremely rarely in Classical use, but is common in Medieval Latin.
• There is a supine mictum, found in Priscian, but it is not in use.

Conjugation of micō (first conjugation, no supine stem, active only)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	micō	micās	micat	micāmus	micātis	micant
	imperfect	micābam	micābās	micābat	micābāmus	micābātis	micābant
	future	micābō	micābis	micābit	micābimus	micābitis	micābunt
	perfect	micuī, micāvī	micuistī, micāvistī	micuit, micāvit	micuimus, micāvimus	micuistis, micāvistis	micuērunt, micuēre, micāvērunt, micāvēre
	pluperfect	micueram, micāveram	micuerās, micāverās	micuerat, micāverat	micuerāmus, micāverāmus	micuerātis, micāverātis	micuerant, micāverant
	future perfect	micuerō, micāverō	micueris, micāveris	micuerit, micāverit	micuerimus, micāverimus	micueritis, micāveritis	micuerint, micāverint
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	micem	micēs	micet	micēmus	micētis	micent
	imperfect	micārem	micārēs	micāret	micārēmus	micārētis	micārent
	perfect	micuerim, micāverim	micuerīs, micāverīs	micuerit, micāverit	micuerīmus, micāverīmus	micuerītis, micāverītis	micuerint, micāverint
	pluperfect	micuissem, micāvissem	micuissēs, micāvissēs	micuisset, micāvisset	micuissēmus, micāvissēmus	micuissētis, micāvissētis	micuissent, micāvissent
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	micā	—	—	micāte	—
	future	—	micātō	micātō	—	micātōte	micantō
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		micāre	micuisse, micāvisse	—	—	—	—
participles		micāns	—	—	—	—	—
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		micandī	micandō	micandum	micandō	—	—

Derived terms

• dīmicō
• ēmicō
• intermicō
• praemicō
• prōmicō
• supermicō

Descendants

• Italian: ammiccare

References

• “mico”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mico”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mico in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the lightning flashes: fulmina micant
    

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ku/

• Rhymes: -iku
• Hyphenation: mi‧co

Etymology 1

From a Cariban language, likely via Spanish mico.

Noun

mico m (plural micos)

1. (Brazil) any of several very small and long-tailed monkeys, such as capuchins and marmosets

   Synonym: sagui

2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (Minho) the devil

Derived terms

• mico-de-cheiro
• mico-estrela
• mico-leão
• mico-leão-de-cara-preta
• mico-leão-dourado

 

Descendants

• → Chinese: 搣咕

Etymology 2

Short for mico-preto, a children's card game where the players have to amass pairs of matching cards, and the card that traditionally depicts a small monkey is the only one without a pair.

Noun

mico m (plural micos)

1. (Brazil) gaffe, blunder, faux pas (an embarrassing mistake or situation)

   Synonyms: gafe, (Brazil) papelão, micagem

   passar mico ― to make a blunder

Derived terms

• micar
• pagar mico

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

mico

1. first-person singular present indicative of micar

Further reading

• “mico”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2024
• “mico”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), Porto: 7Graus, 2009–2024
• “mico”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2024
• “mico”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024
• “mico”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2024
• “mico”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Cumanagoto [Term?].

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmiko/ [ˈmi.ko]
• Rhymes: -iko
• Syllabification: mi‧co

Noun

mico m (plural micos)

1. a monkey with a prehensile tail

   Synonyms: mono, (Mexico) chango

2. (familiar) child
3. an ugly person
4. (Nicaragua) vulva
5. (coastal Ecuador) a blonde person

Derived terms

• aguacate de mico
• mico araña
• mico de noche
• mico dorado
• mico rayado
• micoleón

 

Descendants

• → Catalan: mico
• → Chayuco Mixtec: micu
• → Isthmus Zapotec: migu
• → Mecayapan Nahuatl: mi̱coj
• → Tetelcingo Nahuatl: mico

Further reading

• “mico”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Tetelcingo Nahuatl

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish mico.

Noun

mico

1. monkey

References

• Brewer, Forrest, Brewer, Jean G. (1962) Vocabulario mexicano de Tetelcingo, Morelos: Castellano-mexicano, mexicano-castellano (Serie de vocabularios indígenas Mariano Silva y Aceves; 8)‎^[2] (in Spanish), México, D.F.: El Instituto Lingüístico de Verano en coordinación con la Secretaría de Educación Pública a través de la Dirección General de Internados de Enseñanza Primaria y Educación Indígena, published 1971, pages 30, 141