Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Ecce Mono

Ecce Mono

9.9
A famous Spanish painting of Jesus Christ that became widely shared as a joke after a bad repair
  • proper noun
  • Texting
translation icon : Ecce Mono
  • Tourists came from all over to see the famous Ecce Mono in person.

Examples

  • Many people used images of Ecce Mono as a meme online.

  • The gallery's latest exhibit features an incredible Ecce Mono.

  • Look at Ecce Mono!

  • What is Ecce Mono?

  • Tourists came from all over to see the famous Ecce Mono in person.

  • The gallery's latest exhibit features an incredible Ecce Mono.

  • Many people used images of Ecce Mono as a meme online.

Surface Forms

Ecce Mono main

Morphology

ecce + Mono

The components 'ecce' (behold) and 'mono' (monkey) yield a clear literal reading ('behold the monkey'), so part of the meaning is recoverable from the constituents. However, the actual use refers to a specific Spanish artwork and a culturally specific viral restoration joke, which a B1 learner would not be able to infer from the words alone, making the expression only partially transparent.

Etymology

Ecce Mono got its name after a badly failed restoration of a painting of Jesus that made the face look like a monkey. People used the joke because mono means 'monkey' in Spanish and the original title Ecce Homo means 'behold the man'. That's why Ecce Mono now names the funny picture and is used for jokes about bad restorations.