a menudo

Spanish

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin ad minūtum (“in small pieces, in small steps, piece by piece, one by one”). Compare Classical Latin minūtātim and Pre-and Post-Classical Latin minūtim, as well as Portuguese amiúde. The temporal sense is a natural progression from separateness ("piece by piece") to repetition ("once and again").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a meˈnudo/ [a meˈnu.ð̞o]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Syllabification: a me‧nu‧do

Adverb

a menudo

1. often, oftentimes (habitually)

Further reading

• “a menudo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28