Etymologically
Log in

cazador

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Spanish word cazador

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1200–1250 Fazienda de Ultramar, spelt caçador More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin capiō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Spanish cazar
Spanish cazador
From the same root
Spanish caza ← cazar

Pronunciation

  • /kaθaˈdoɾ/, [ka.θaˈð̞oɾ], /kasaˈdoɾ/[1]

Forms

cazador m (plural cazadores, feminine cazadora, feminine plural cazadoras)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish cazar + -dor, the agent noun of the verb.[1][2][3] The verb continues Vulgar Latin *captiare (“to catch”), derived from capiō (“to take”), whose past participle is captus.[3][4]

Portuguese caçador, Italian cacciatore and French chasseur are formed in the same way from their verbs.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEMel's earliest record in a text is caçador in the Fazienda de Ultramar (1200–1250).[5] Alonso quotes the Libro de Alexandre (c. 1240–1250): Sy barruntar lo puede el omme caçador, corta con una sierra el árbol a derredor “if the hunter can sense it, he cuts all round the tree with a saw”.[2] Corominas and the BDELC date the word to 1256, in Aly Aben Ragel's Libro conplido.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Alfonso X's prose the word is both a noun and an adjective: in the Estoria de España a young man is muy caçador “very fond of hunting”, a falconry book calls hawks aues cazadores, and the astronomical works name a constellation el caçador delas culuebras “the snake-hunter”.[6] Autoridades quotes the Partidas, by which clerics should be neither venadores, nin cazadores, and has hunting dogs and cats as well as people.[7]

The figurative sense, one who wins another over to his side, is in the Academy's dictionary of 1843.[8] The military sense, a soldier of the light troops, is in Salvá's dictionary of 1846, and Domínguez adds the light cavalryman.[9][10] Alemany in 1917 records a ship sent to give chase and scout.[11] The feminine cazadora later came to name a hunting jacket and then a short sporty jacket; in Colombia it is a large non-venomous snake.[12]

Timeline

  • 1200–1250 – caçador in the Fazienda de Ultramar.[5]
  • 1256 – caçador in Aly Aben Ragel's Libro conplido, the first record for Corominas.[3][4]
  • 1270–1284 – the Estoria de España uses it as an adjective, “fond of hunting”.[6]
  • 1587 – the first record from the Americas, in Lima.[13]
  • 1843 – the Academy records the figurative sense.[8]
  • 1846 – Salvá records the soldier of light troops.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a person: who hunts for a living or for sport; also used as a noun, a hunter.[12][1]
  2. Of an animal: that hunts other animals by instinct: Esa perra es muy cazadora.[12]
  3. (colloquial) Of a person: who wins someone over to his side.[12]

Noun

  1. (military, historical) A soldier of the light troops; a light infantryman or cavalryman.[12][1]
  2. (feminine cazadora) A jacket for hunting and sport; a short, close-fitting sporty jacket.[12]
  3. (feminine, Colombia) A large non-venomous snake.[12]

Usage notes

Cazador de alforja is a hunter who uses dogs, snares or other devices instead of a gun;[12] cazador mayor was a palace officer in charge of falconry.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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. 658
  3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 932
  4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cazar
  5. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock
  6. ^ 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)
  7. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 245
  8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández
  9. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá
  10. ^ 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. 364
  11. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 358
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. cazador
  13. ^ 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. cazador
Cite this entry

“Cazador.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/cazador. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·