arable

Forms

arable m or f (masculine and feminine plural arables)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin arābilis (“that can be ploughed”), according to the Academy and Wiktionary.^[2][1] The Latin adjective is formed from arō (“to plough”) with the suffix -bilis.^[1][3] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of arar, and the Spanish Wiktionary analyses it as that verb with the suffix -able.^[4][5][6]

The Latin verb continues *araje/o-, from *h₂erh₃- (“to plough”); its cognates include ἀρόω (aróō), árti and 𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (arjan).^[7] The same Latin adjective is Portuguese arável, Catalan arable, French arable and Italian arabile.^[8][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo's Suma de la política (1454–1457, in a copy of the second half of the 15th century): a city should have plenty of possessiones arables “ploughable lands” and good olive groves.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed rare for centuries: after Sánchez de Arévalo the CDH has no more examples until the 1880s, in Chilean and Uruguayan writers.^[11] In the 19th century it reached the general dictionaries: Domínguez in 1846 defined it as land fit for ploughing, and Gaspar y Roig marked it as a term of agriculture.^[12][13] Today it is said mainly of land and soil.^[2][14]

Timeline

• 1454–1457 – Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo writes of possessiones arables.^[11]
• 1846 – Domínguez's dictionary records the word.^[12]
• 1882 – Vicente Pérez Rosales, in Chile, writes of suelos arables.^[11]
• 1917 – Alemany defines it as fit to be ploughed, as the Academy still does.^[15][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of land) arable: fit to be ploughed (arar): Solo una parte de la finca es arable.^[2][16][1]

Related words

• arar
• arado
• Latin arō
• Portuguese arável

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. arable
3. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. arar
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 307
6. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. arável
9. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. arable
10. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto
11. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. arable
12. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 157
13. ^ Gaspar y Roig (eds.) (1853–1855), Biblioteca ilustrada de Gaspar y Roig: Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Imprenta y Librería de Gaspar y Roig, p. 1, 202
14. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. arable
15. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 156
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. arable