pilar

Forms

pilar m (plural pilars)^[1] Wiktionary gives Valencian [piˈlaɾ], with the final consonant, against [piˈla] elsewhere; the DCVB records both.^[1][2] An analogical plural pilans spread in Catalonia in the 19th century, even in careful writers such as Milà i Fontanals.^[3]

Etymology

Bruguera and the GDLC take it as formed from Catalan pila + -ar, and Coromines lists it among the derivatives of that word.^[4][5][3] Wiktionary, the DCVB and the NGGL instead take it from a Latin noun ⟨pilare⟩, Vulgar Latin ⟨*pīlāre⟩, formed on pīla (“pillar, pier”).^[1][2][6] In Spanish, pilar, recorded in 1251, is likewise traced to the Vulgar Latin form.^[7]

This Latin word is distinct from its homonym meaning “mortar”, probably of another origin.^[4][3] Its etymology is unknown; de Vaan compares an Oscan verb ⟨ehpeílatasset⟩ “they have erected (a stele)”.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

CICA's first record is the Costums de Tortosa of 1272.^[9] In Llull the word is the column at which Christ was bound and scourged.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Medieval documents use it for the piers of buildings: beams set de pilar a pilar in a royal register of 1368, the foundation stone of the third pillar of Barcelona cathedral in 1406, and the capital of a pillar of Girona cathedral in 1417.^[10][3] Ausiàs March and Roís de Corella use it figuratively for a support of virtue or love.^[3][10] In Mallorca in 1448 a pilar was set aside for weighing sacks of grain and flour.^[11]

The 1507 Catalan Nebrija has it for a support, a one-piece column and a gallows post.^[3] Labèrnia adds the stone cylinder where the heads of the executed were displayed.^[12] The DCVB records bedposts and the uprights of a cart's rails, and figuratively a person or thing on which others rest.^[2] Fabra gave the vertical support, the pile of stones used as a boundary mark and the column of a piece of furniture.^[13] Among the castellers the pilar is a tower one person wide.^[14][1] The diminutive pilaret is recorded in 1575.^[4]

Timeline

• 1272 – pilar in the Costums de Tortosa.^[9]
• 1368 – beams de pilar a pilar in a register of the Crown of Aragon.^[10]
• 1406 – the foundation of the third pillar of Barcelona cathedral.^[10]
• 1417 – the capital of a pillar in the works of Girona cathedral.^[3]
• 1448 – a pilar for weighing sacks in the Mallorcan market rules.^[11]
• 1460 – Roís de Corella's Història de Leànder i Hero uses it figuratively.^[10]
• 1507 – the Catalan Nebrija glosses it as a support, a column and a gallows.^[3]
• 1575 – pilaret first recorded.^[4]
• 1932 – Fabra defines it as a vertical support.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A vertical support, much taller than it is wide, of stone, brick, concrete or iron: pillar, pier.^[14][5]
2. A pile of stones or bricks serving as a boundary marker.^[14]
3. A column of a piece of furniture, such as a bedpost.^[14][2]
4. (castells) A human tower with a single casteller on each level.^[14][1]
5. pilar coronat: an earth pillar, a pinnacle capped by a rock that protects it from erosion.^[14]
6. (mining) A column of ore left standing to keep the roof from collapsing.^[14]
7. (mountaineering) A vertical rock buttress standing out like a tower.^[14]
8. (rugby) Each of the two front-row players beside the hooker: prop.^[5]
9. (figurative) A person or thing that supports others.^[2]

Word family

• pilaret
• pilanet

Related words

• pila
• apilar
• pilastra
• Latin pīla
• Spanish pilar

Usage notes

The DCVB has a second article pilar, a verb used for apilar “to pile up”, without an etymology.^[2] Pilar is also a woman's name, after the Virgin of the Pillar.^[15] Martí Gadea records the Valencian proverb per pilar gichó baixet no cau la casa: a thing can be sound without looking it.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. pilar
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. 6, 537
4. ^ a b c d Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 710
5. ^ a b c Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. pilar
6. ^ a b Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. pilar
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pila
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. pilar
10. ^ a b c d e Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. pilar
11. ^ a b Gual Camarena, Miguel, Vocabulario del comercio medieval, online edition, Universidad de Murcia, https://www.um.es/lexico-comercio-medieval, p. s.v. pilar
12. ^ Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. pilar
13. ^ a b Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. pilar
14. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. pilar
15. ^ a b Martí Gadea, Joaquim (1891), Novísimo diccionario general valenciano-castellano, Valencia, p. s.v. pilar