† muermon.
Origin: A borrowing from Spanish. Etymon: Spanish muermo.
Etymology: < Chilean Spanish muermo Ulmo tree, apparently a specific use of Spanish muermo glanders (end of the 13th cent.; now chiefly in sense ‘boredom, the blues, a pain’), variant in specific use of muerbo illness < classical Latin morbus disease (see morbid adj.); but see note below.Although most dictionaries regard the Chilean meaning as derived from Spanish, there is no convincing explanation for the change of sense. In Mapuche (the most likely Amerindian source for a Chilean Spanish word) the name of the tree is completely different. N.E.D. (1908) gives the pronunciation as (mue·rmo) /muːˈɛrməʊ/.
Obsolete.
rare. Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
1890 Muermo, a fine rosaceous tree of Chili, Eucryphia cordifolia.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
n.1890