gorgojo

Inherited from Latin gurguliō, variant of curculiō. Coromines and Pascual posit a Vulgar Latin *gurgulius, back-derived from the Latin accusative gurguliōnem after speakers interpreted its ending as an augmentative (cf. Spanish -ón). They also acknowledge the possibility that gorgojo was simply inherited from the original Latin nominative. Compare Italian gorgoglione, alongside the Old Italian gorgoglio. For other Spanish animal names that appear to reflect the Latin nominative, cf. drago, pavo, and sierpe.

• IPA^(key): /ɡoɾˈɡoxo/ [ɡoɾˈɣ̞o.xo]
• Rhymes: -oxo
• Syllabification: gor‧go‧jo

gorgojo m (plural gorgojos)

1. grub
2. weevil

   Synonyms: curculiónido, picudo

3. (colloquial) small person

• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “gorgojo”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume III (G–Ma), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 175

• “gorgojo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024