arenoso

Forms

arenoso (feminine arenosa, masculine plural arenosos, feminine plural arenosas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin arēnōsus (“sandy”).^[2][1][3] The Latin adjective belongs to arēna (“sand”), the source of Spanish arena; the OLD lists it under the spelling harēnōsus.^[4][5] Corominas lists the adjective among the derivatives of the Spanish noun, with the date 1438.^[6]

The same Latin word is Galician areoso, which survives also in the place names ⟨Areosa⟩ and ⟨Arosa⟩, and Aromanian arinos.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alfonso X's Lapidario (1250–1279) uses the word of a round stone that is arenosa ... & de color uerde que tira a cardeno “sandy, and of a green colour verging on purple”, in the sense “having the nature of sand”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Alfonsine prose has both senses of today, “containing sand” and “like sand”.^[8] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1726) defined it as full of sand, as in campo arenoso and suelo arenoso, and quoted a gloss on Mena's Coronación: sirtes son arenosos lugares en la mar “syrtes are sandy places in the sea”.^[10] The Academy added the sense “having the nature of sand” in 1817.^[11] In Leonese it is said of poor land that is hard to cultivate.^[12] In Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela and Ecuador it describes fruit, especially potatoes and apples, with a grainy texture.^[13]

Timeline

• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses arenosa of a stone.^[8][9]
• 1438 – Corominas's date for the word.^[6]
• 1576 – a record from Mexico: tierra harenosa y estéril “sandy, barren land”.^[14]
• 1726 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as full of sand.^[10]
• 1817 – the Academy adds the sense “having the nature of sand”.^[11]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from Latin arenosus.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sandy: containing sand, or full of it: Las tortugas desovan en playas arenosas.^[2][1]
2. Having the nature or texture of sand.^[2][16]
3. (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador; of fruit) mealy, grainy in texture.^[13]

Related words

• arena
• arenal
• arenisco
• Latin arēnōsus
• Galician areoso

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. arenoso
3. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. arenoso
4. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 321
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. arena
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. arēnōsus
8. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. arenoso
9. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 384
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 84
12. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. arenoso
13. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. arenoso
14. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. arenoso
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 87
16. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. arenoso