The Spanish word 'mono' (meaning 'monkey') has an interesting journey through Arabic before arriving in Spanish. It comes from Classical Arabic 'maymūn', which had the dual meaning of 'fortunate' and 'monkey'. This word entered Andalusi Arabic as 'maymún', keeping the meaning 'monkey'. When it entered Spanish, it first appeared as 'maimona' (meaning 'female monkey'), which was then shortened to 'mona'. Finally, the masculine form 'mono' was derived from 'mona' to specifically refer to male monkeys, though it's now used as the general word for 'monkey'.

It's interesting to note how the word evolved from having a positive connotation ('fortunate') in Arabic to becoming the standard word for monkey in Spanish. This kind of semantic evolution, where a word's meaning shifts significantly as it moves between languages, is quite common in etymology.

A closely related Spanish word is 'mona', which specifically means 'female monkey'. While 'mono' is the more general term for monkey, 'mona' is still used when specifically referring to female monkeys. The word 'mona' is also used in various Spanish expressions, such as 'hacer el mono' (to act silly or to monkey around) and 'quedarse de mona' (to be left disappointed).

While 'mono' doesn't have direct English cognates through this Arabic etymology, English speakers might find it easier to remember by associating it with English words that relate to monkeys or apes, such as 'simian' or the prefix 'mono-' (though this comes from Greek and is unrelated). The word's simplicity makes it relatively easy for English speakers to remember.