mozo

See also: Appendix:Variations of "mozo"

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish mozo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈməʊzəʊ/, /ˈmoθo/

Noun

mozo (plural mozos)

1. A male servant, especially an attendant to a bullfighter.
   • 1931, Hart Crane, letter, 2 June:

     I found, by advice, that single mozos weren't apt to be much good.

   • 1992, Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses:

     When he rode up to the gerente’s house that morning he was accompanied by four friends and by a retinue of mozos and two packanimals saddled with hardwood kiacks, one empty, the other carrying their noon provisions.

2. A title of respect for a young man (usually unmarried) with or without a name used. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
3. An unmarried man, a boy. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Anagrams

• Zoom, zoom

Asturian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoθo/ [ˈmo.θo]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oθo
• Syllabification: mo‧zo

Adjective

mozo

1. neuter of mozu

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese moço (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria) of unknown origin. Cognate with Portuguese moço, Asturian mozu, and Spanish mozo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoθo̝/, (western) /ˈmoso̝/

Noun

mozo m (plural mozos, feminine moza, feminine plural mozas)

1. boy; teenager; young man; single man

   Synonyms: homiño, rapaz

2. boyfriend

   Synonym: noivo

   Xa é unha mulleriña; mesmo botou mozo.

   She's already a young lady; she even has a boyfriend now.

3. (archaic) junior (person that is younger than other person)
   • 1485, M. Lucas Álvarez, P. Lucas Domínguez, editors, El monasterio de San Clodio do Ribeiro en la Edad Media: estudio y documentos, Sada: Edicións do Castro, page 709:

     Vasco d'Oseve o mozo, fillo de Vasco d'Oseve o vello

     Vasco de Oseve junior, son of Vasco de Oseve senior

Derived terms

• mociño

Adjective

mozo (feminine moza, masculine plural mozos, feminine plural mozas)

1. young; younger

   Alá foron os anos mozos!

   The young years are over!

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “moço”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “mozo”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “mozo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mozo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “mozo”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Potawatomi

Alternative forms

• mos

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Algonquian *mo·swa (“moose”). Cognates include Ojibwe and Ottawa mooz, Plains Cree môswa/ᒨᔁ, Unami mus and (from an Eastern Algonquian language) English moose.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mo.so/ [mo.zo]

Noun

mozo anim (plural mozok or mozoyêk, locative mozok, obviative mozon or mozoyen)

1. moose

   Mozo ngi-wabma shi zibik.

   I saw a moose at the river.

Inflection

Declension of mozo

	singular	plural
—	mozo	mozok, mozoyêk
locative	mozok	mozogok
diminutive	mozos	mozosêk
obviative	mozon, mozoyen

References

• “mozo”, in Online Potawatomi Dictionary‎^[1], Citizen Potawatomi Nation, 2026
• “moz-mozo”, in Wiwkwébthëgen‎^[2], Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Government, 2026

Spanish

Alternative forms

• moço (obsolete)

Etymology

Uncertain, probably ultimately identical with muchacho (cf. mocho), or from Latin musteus (“must-like, of new wine, fresh”), from musteum, from mustum. Other theories include a pre-Roman origin. Compare Portuguese moço, Galician mozo, Asturian mozu. Cf. also Catalan mosso (taken from Spanish) and motxo. There may alternatively be a link to Italian mozzo (“cut off, docked”), French mousse (“blunt”), or Basque motz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoθo/ [ˈmo.θo] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ˈmoso/ [ˈmo.so] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oθo (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• Rhymes: -oso (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: mo‧zo

Noun

mozo m (plural mozos, feminine moza, feminine plural mozas)

1. boy, lad, young man, youth
2. servant, helper, steward, manservant

   Synonyms: sirviente, ayudante

3. (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru) waiter, server

   Synonym: camarero

4. cat, tomcat

   Synonym: gato

Derived terms

• aeromozo
• mozo de caballos
• mozo de cordel
• mozo de cuerda
• mozo de espadas
• mozo de espuela
• mozo de esquina
• mozo de estoques
• mozo de mulas
• mozo de oficio

Descendants

• → Catalan: mosso
• → Italian: mozzo

• → Ottoman Turkish: موچو (muço), میچو (mıço)
  • Turkish: miço, muço
  • → Albanian: muço
  • → Armenian: միչօ (mičʻō)
  • → Bulgarian: му́чо (múčo)

• → Yosondúa Mixtec: musu

Adjective

mozo (feminine moza, masculine plural mozos, feminine plural mozas)

1. young, youthful

   Synonyms: juvenil, joven

2. unmarried

   Synonym: soltero

Further reading

• “mozo”, 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