mesquino

Old Spanish

Alternative forms

• misquino (pre-literary)
• mezquino, meçquino

Etymology

From Arabic مِسْكِين (miskīn, “poor”). First attested with the pre-literary spelling misquinos (plural) in the 10th/11th-century San Millan glosses.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mesˈkino/

Adjective

mesquino

1. poor (lacking money)

Noun

mesquino m

1. beggar, homeless person
   • 10th or 11th century, anonymous, San Millan glosses , (as quoted by Coromines and Pascual):

     qui... pauperibus reddet : qui dat a los misquinos

     ...who gives to the beggars...

Descendants

• Spanish: mezquino

Further reading

• Joan Coromines, José A. Pascual (1985) “mezquino”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), volumes IV (Me–Re), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, pages 62-63