carbonero

Forms

carbonero m (plural carboneros)^[1] DEMel lists the spellings charbonero and carvonero in charters of 1069 and 1210, and caruonero and carvonero in later texts.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin carbōnārius (“charcoal burner”), as the DLE, Wiktionary and the REW give it.^[3][1][4] The Spanish Wikcionario analyses it instead as carbón with the suffix -ero, and Corominas lists it among the derivatives of that noun without a separate etymology.^[5][6][7]

The Latin word is the source of Portuguese carvoeiro, Galician carvoeiro, Catalan carboner, French charbonnier, Italian carbonaio and Romanian cărbunar.^[4][8] Its Italian form carbonaro, the name of a member of a secret society, gave Spanish carbonario.^[6][8]

The Latin noun is formed from carbō (“charcoal”) with the suffix -ārius.^[9][1] De Vaan finds the Latin noun's further origin uncertain: the words usually compared outside Italic, such as *hurja-, do not share its specific meaning or its suffix.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alonso's medieval dictionary first records the word in the 15th century, in Pulgar's Crónica, which mentions carboneros, que tenian cargo de fazer el carbon para las fraguas “charcoal burners, who were in charge of making the charcoal for the forges”.^[11] Corominas dates it to the end of the 15th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija defined carvonero as the one who makes charcoal, with Latin carbonarius.^[11] The 1729 volume of Autoridades gave “one who makes or sells charcoal in his house”, and the Academy's dictionary kept only this sense until 1884, when it added the adjective “of or relating to charcoal” and the bird name pavo carbonero.^[12][13][14] Alemany's dictionary of 1917 has the bird as paro carbonero, the name the DLE still lists, and the REW notes bird names from the same Latin word in other Romance languages.^[15][3][4]

In the Americas the word was in use in Mexico City by 1554.^[16] In Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Central America it names several trees whose wood was burnt for charcoal, and in Puerto Rico also a fish.^{[3][17][18][19]} In Colombia, Peru and Chile a carbonero is someone who stirs up quarrels, and in Uruguay a supporter of the Peñarol football club.^[17][20]

Timeline

• 1069 – DEMel's first record of the spelling charbonero, in a charter.^[2]
• 1400s – Pulgar's Crónica mentions carboneros making charcoal for forges.^[11]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives carvonero with Latin carbonarius.^[11]
• 1554 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City: yndios leñadores e carboneros.^[16]
• 1729 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as one who makes or sells charcoal.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary adds the adjective sense and the bird name pavo carbonero.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to charcoal or coal (carbón): una mina carbonera.^[3][21]

Noun

1. A charcoal burner or collier: a person who makes or sells charcoal.^[3][1]
2. (Cuba, Puerto Rico) Any of several trees and shrubs of different families whose wood is used for charcoal.^[3][17]
3. A tit, a small songbird of the family Paridae, especially the great tit (paro carbonero).^[1][21][22]
4. The pollock or saithe, a large sea fish related to the cod.^[1][21]

Related words

• carbón
• carbonario
• Portuguese carvoeiro
• Catalan carboner

Usage notes

The feminine carbonera is used as a noun for a covered pile of wood made into charcoal and for a place where coal is kept.^[3] In Mexico the saying tiznar al carbonero means to deceive someone who thinks himself clever.^[22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. carbonero
4. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1676
5. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 856
7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. carbón
8. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 164
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies)
15. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena
16. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
17. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer
18. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo
19. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr
20. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé
21. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial
22. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos