hueso

Etymology

From Old Spanish huesso, from Latin ossum, popular variant of os, ossis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ésth₁ (“bone”), *h₂óst. Compare Catalan os, French os, Interlingua osso, Italian osso, Portuguese osso, Romanian os, Sardinian ossu. Political sense comes from comparing a dog looking for and defending a bone and a politician searching a position.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈweso/
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /ˈɡweso/, IPA^(key): /ˈbweso/

Noun

hueso m (plural huesos)

1. (anatomy) bone
2. (botany) a stone; the central part of some fruits, consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer (like those of peach, olive, avocado or mango)
3. (politics, Mexico, slang) a political position (designated or elected)
4. (Spain, informal) a strict person