caroncho

Forms

caroncho m (plural caronchos)^[1] Leonese and Galician-Portuguese forms include caruncho, carunjo (Sanabria), caronjo (Bierzo, Astorga, Maragatería), coroyu (Asturias) and caruju (Cantabria).^[2]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain: Corominas calls it a word shared by the Leonese dialects and Galician-Portuguese, of unclear source.^[2] It is perhaps inherited from Vulgar Latin *cariuncŭla, a diminutive of Latin cariēs (“rot, decay”), as the DLE tentatively proposes.^[3] García de Diego gave the same base.^[4] Wiktionary gives it in the masculine, *cariunculus.^[1] De Vaan considers the Latin noun a formation later than Proto-Italic, from an earlier verb, perhaps Proto-Italic *kas- (“to lack”).^[5]

Corominas rejects this base: the loss of the /i/ without any trace on the stressed /a/ is hard to explain, as is the suffix -uncula.^[2] He derived the word instead from *curiunculus, by haplology and dissimilation from Latin curculiunculus, which Plautus uses as a plain synonym of curculiō (“weevil”); he admits that the loss of the /l/ after /r/ is surprising and that his own etymon is doubtful.^[2][4] He also discusses and rejects Cornu's carbunculus (“a small coal; smut of cereals”) and a cross of caruncula (“a small piece of flesh”) with that word.^[2]

The cognates are Portuguese caruncho “woodworm” and Galician caruncho “smut of cereals”.^[2][6] The word for woodworm in Catalan and Aragonese, quera, does come from the Latin noun.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is caruncho in Sebastián de Lugo's collection of Canarian words of 1846.^[2] Caroncho itself first appears in 1915 in Lamano's dictionary of the speech of Salamanca.^[2] Lamano defines it as the woodworm and the fine powder into which worm-eaten wood turns, and compares Leonese caronjo and Portuguese caruncho.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to the west of Spain: Corominas lists it in Salamanca, Sanabria, León, Asturias, Cantabria and the Canaries, always for the worm that eats wood.^[2] The DLE labels it western Spanish, and Moliner gives Asturias and Salamanca.^[3][9] Derived verbs are Salamancan caroncharse “to become worm-eaten, to rot” and acaronjarse in the Bierzo.^[4][2]

Timeline

• 1846 – caruncho in Sebastián de Lugo's list of Canarian words.^[2]
• 1915 – caroncho in Lamano's dictionary of Salamanca.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (western Spain) woodworm, the carcoma beetle that bores into wood.^[3][1]
2. (Salamanca) The fine dust left by woodworm in wood.^[6]

Related words

• carcoma
• caries
• Portuguese caruncho

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 882
3. ^ 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. caroncho
4. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 1472
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Lamano y Beneite, José de (1915), El dialecto vulgar salmantino, Salamanca: Tipografía Popular, p. 326
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ 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, 935
9. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. caroncho