carpintería

Forms

carpintería f (plural carpinterías)^[1] The Old Spanish form was carpentería (also carpenteria), used into the 15th century;^[2][3] carpintería appears in Alfonso de Cartagena's translation of Cicero in 1422.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish carpentería, formed from Old Spanish carpentero + -ía.^[1][4][5] The vowel /i/ of the modern form is that of carpintero, which replaced Old Spanish carpentero under the influence of pintar.^[6][5] The older noun is from Latin carpentarius (“cartwright”), from carpentum (“carriage”), a Latin word of Celtic origin.^[6][5] Corominas notes that the Latin noun already meant a carpenter in general in glosses of the 8th century.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word about 1250.^[5] The CDH's first hit is the Libro de Alexandre (1240–1250, in a copy of the early 15th century), where the elephant carries siege engines de grant carpentería “of great carpentry”, that is, large wooden constructions.^[2] DEMel's first record from a primary source is Bocados de oro, about 1250.^[3] Alfonso X's General estoria (1272–1275) uses it for the carpenter's craft of working wood and stone.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Spanish the word named the craft of the carpenter and also, figuratively, a wooden construction such as a siege engine.^[8][2] The sense “carpenter's workshop” is first recorded in Nebrija's Spanish–Latin dictionary, about 1495.^[8] A Mexican dictionary of 1571 already defines both the craft and the place where carpenters work.^[9] The Academy's 1899 dictionary gave the workshop and the trade; the DLE adds the woodwork itself, and Moliner the woodwork of a building, such as its doors, windows and floors.^[10][11][12] The phrase carpintería metálica extends it to frames and fittings made of metal instead of wood.^[11]

In Panama carpintería is a colloquial word for the easier part of a job.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – first record, carpentería in the Libro de Alexandre and Bocados de oro.^[5][2][3]
• 1272–1275 – Alfonso X's General estoria uses it for the carpenter's craft.^[7]
• 1422 – the spelling carpinteria in Cartagena's translation of Cicero's De officiis.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija records the sense “carpenter's workshop”.^[8]
• 1512 – first record in the Americas, in Puerto Rico.^[9]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the workshop and the trade.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A carpenter's workshop (taller) or shop: Llevó la mesa rota a la carpintería del barrio.^[11][1]
2. carpentry: the trade of a carpintero.^[11][1][12]
3. The work of a carpenter; the woodwork of a building, such as its doors and windows.^[11][12]

Related words

• carpintero
• carpintear
• Latin carpentarius

Usage notes

Carpintería metálica is the making of furniture, door and window frames and similar work in metal instead of wood.^[11][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. carpintería
3. ^ a b c d Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. carpintería
4. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. carpintero
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 887
7. ^ a b 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. carpintería
8. ^ a b c 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, p. 634
9. ^ 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, p. s.v. carpentería
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 200
11. ^ a b c d e f 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. carpintería
12. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. carpintería
13. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. carpintería