mendrugo

Spanish

Etymology

Possibly from Vulgar Latin *mandūcum, from Latin mandūcāre. Influenced by mendigo (“beggar”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /menˈdɾuɡo/ [mẽn̪ˈd̪ɾu.ɣ̞o]
• Rhymes: -uɡo
• Syllabification: men‧dru‧go

Noun

mendrugo m (plural mendrugos)

1. crust (of bread, particularly the heel of a loaf of bread)
2. (colloquial, Spain) stupid or rude person

   Near-synonyms: tonto, zoquete, zopenco, ceporro, tarugo

3. stale bread

Further reading

• “mendrugo”, 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
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “mendrugo”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA