febrer

Forms

febrer m (plural febrers)^[1] The abbreviation is febr.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin febrārius, the form without /u/ that Latin inscriptions already show, of februārius (“of February”).^[1][3][4] Coromines, Bruguera and the GDLC give the classical form as the etymon, and the DCVB writes it ⟨febr(u)ariu⟩.^[5][6][2][7]

The same Latin word is Occitan febrièr, Spanish febrero, Portuguese fevereiro, French février, Italian febbraio and Romanian făurar.^[8][1]

The Latin name means the month of expiation, after the great feast of purification held on the 15th of the month, and comes from februum (“means of purification, offering”); until the time of the decemvirs it was the last month of the Roman year.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

CICA's first record is in the court book of Cocentaina (1269–1290), and Jaume I's chronicle speaks of the beginning of February (tro a la entrada de febrer).^[10] Coromines, Bruguera and the GDLC date the word from about 1330, in Muntaner's chronicle, which tells how, when February was over, the megaduke had it proclaimed that everyone should settle his accounts with the army for all of March.^{[5][6][2][11]} As a personal name, Febrer appears in a charter of 1063.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The word has meant only the month since its first records.^[11][7] Labèrnia gives the proverb febrer trau los ordis del bolquer, that in February the sown fields begin to turn green.^[13] Tarongí's Mallorcan dictionary has Febrer es curt, mes brau que un turch, February is short but fiercer than a Turk, for the harsh weather of the month, and Martí Gadea gives the Valencian febrer lo curt, pijor que ’l turch.^[14][15] The derivatives are febrerada and februra 'rough weather'.^[5][6] Fabra defines the word as the second month of the year, of 28 days, 29 in leap years.^[16]

Timeline

• 1269–1290 – first record in CICA, in the court book of Cocentaina.^[10]
• 1325 – Muntaner's chronicle: E com lo febrer fo passat.^[11]
• 1803 – Esteve, Bellvitges and Juglà give Spanish febrero and Latin Februarius for it.^[17]
• 1839 – Labèrnia records the proverb febrer trau los ordis del bolquer.^[13]
• 1878 – Tarongí records Febrer es curt, mes brau que un turch.^[14]
• 1932 – Fabra heads febrer 'February' and febrer 'eucalyptus'.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. February, the second month of the year, with 28 days, or 29 in a leap year: Ens veurem a mitjan febrer.^[18][2][1]

Word family

• febrerada
• februra

Related words

• Occitan febrièr
• Spanish febrero

Usage notes

The DIEC2 and Fabra also head febrer as a name of the blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus); the GDLC and Wiktionary derive it from febre 'fever', because the oil of the tree was used against fevers.^{[18][16][2][1]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. febrer
3. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. februārius
4. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 877
5. ^ a b c Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 3, 922
6. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 385
7. ^ a b Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. febrer
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3231
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. febrer
11. ^ a b c Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. febrer
12. ^ Kremer, Dieter (1969–1972), Die germanischen Personennamen in Katalonien: Namensammlung und Etymologisches, Estudis Romànics, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. 75
13. ^ a b Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. febrer
14. ^ a b [Tarongí Cortès, Josep] (1878), Diccionari mallorquí-castellà, Palma de Mallorca, p. s.v. febrer
15. ^ Martí Gadea, Joaquim (1891), Novísimo diccionario general valenciano-castellano, Valencia, p. s.v. febrer
16. ^ a b c Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. febrer
17. ^ Esteve, Joaquim; Bellvitges, Josep; Juglà, Antoni (1803–1805), Diccionario catalán-castellano-latino, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. febrer
18. ^ a b Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. febrer