Etymograph

English

machismo

Machismo comes from Spanish machismo ‘male chauvinism, misogyny, sexism’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *méryos ‘young man’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méryos1‘young man’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmās2‘male’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculus3‘male’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEmasclus3‘syncopated form of masculus (“male”)’contracted form of masculus
  5. Old Spanishc. 950–1500maslo3‘male’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentmacho4‘male’
  7. Spanishc. 1500–presentmachismo4‘male chauvinism, misogyny, sexism’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1971machismo4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mas
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin masculus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Spanish macho
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English machismo
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1971, Germaine Greer, My Mailer Problem: “The tragedy of machismo is that a man is…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méryosWiktionary, Latin mas‘young man’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmāsWiktionary, Latin masculus‘male’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmasculusWiktionary, Spanish macho‘male’
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEmasclusWiktionary, Spanish macho‘syncopated form of masculus (“male”)’contracted form of masculus
  5. Old Spanishc. 950–1500masloWiktionary, Spanish macho‘male’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentmachoWiktionary, English machismo‘male’
  7. Spanishc. 1500–presentmachismoWiktionary, English machismo‘male chauvinism, misogyny, sexism’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1971machismoWiktionary, English machismo. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1971, Germaine Greer, My Mailer Problem: “The tragedy of machismo is that a man is…”

first attested First attested 1940, from American Spanish machismo, from Spanish macho (“male”), + suffix -ismo (“-ism”) (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested 1940, from American Spanish machismo, from Spanish macho (‘male’), + suffix -ismo (‘-ism’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin mās ‘male’

married, marriage, marry, marital, 8 more

through Latin masculus ‘male’

masculine, masculinity, 3 more

through Vulgar Latin masclus ‘syncopated form of masculus (“male”)’

male

through Spanish macho ‘male’

macho, machete, 1 more

Today it means

noun An excessive masculine pride, exaggerated masculinity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “machismo”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin mas, Latin masculus, Spanish macho. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *méryos / machismo

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