mosso

See also: Mosso and mössö

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Spanish mozo. Compare Portuguese moço.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈmo.su]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈmo.so]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mos‧so

Noun

mosso m (plural mossos, feminine mossa, feminine plural mosses)

1. porter, bellboy, bellhop
2. waiter, steward
3. lad, boy

   Synonym: fadrí

4. guard
5. police officer
   1. ellipsis of mosso d'esquadra: a Mosso, a member of the Mossos d'Esquadra

Derived terms

• Mossos d'Esquadra

Further reading

• “mosso”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “mosso” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “mosso”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025

Italian

Etymology

Probably analogical with some other verb. Replaces the Classical Latin participle mōtus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔs.so/
• Rhymes: -ɔsso
• Hyphenation: mòs‧so

• Audio:

  (file)

Participle

mosso (feminine mossa, masculine plural mossi, feminine plural mosse)

1. past participle of muovere

Adjective

mosso (feminine mossa, masculine plural mossi, feminine plural mosse)

1. (music) mosso, animated, rapid, fast
2. rough (of sea)
3. wavy (of hair)
4. blurred (of a photograph)

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Catalan mosso, in turn from Old Spanish mozo. Doublet of mozo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoso/ [ˈmo.so]
• Rhymes: -oso
• Syllabification: mos‧so

Noun

mosso m (plural mossos)

1. a member of the Mossos d'Esquadra

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Related terms

• Mozos de Escuadra