chaparreras

Forms

chaparreras f pl (plural only)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish chaparro + -era, in the plural.^[2] Santamaría explains the name: they protect the rider's legs against the low scrub.^[3] The base word chaparro “low, bushy oak” is of pre-Roman origin, related to Basque txapar (“scrub”), a diminutive of zaphar (“thicket, hedge”).^[4] The DLE takes it from the Basque word.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in the Academy's dictionary of 1884, as a kind of chaps of tanned hide used in Mexico.^[6] The CDH's first text is Ignacio Manuel Altamirano's El Zarco (c. 1886–1888), where silver shines on chaparreras de piel de tigre “chaps of jaguar skin” hanging from the saddle.^[7]

Semantic evolution

García Icazbalceta described them as two separate legs without a seat, fastened at the waist with straps and worn over the trousers to protect the rider from rain and mud; they were usually of goatskin cured with the hair on, hence the other name chivarras, but also of jaguar skin, chamois or canvas.^[8][3] Malaret distinguished them as stiffer and stronger than the chivarras.^[9] Today the word is used in Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua and Ecuador for the leather leggings of cowboys and charros.^[10] In Hidalgo it was also recorded for saddlebags.^[11]

The English word chaps (1844, American English) is short for chaparejos, from the Mexican Spanish word.^[12]

Timeline

• 1844 – the English chaps, a borrowing through chaparejos.^[12]
• 1884 – first record, in the Academy's dictionary.^[6]
• c. 1886–1888 – Altamirano's El Zarco, the CDH's first text.^[7]
• 1903 – the first record in the Americas in Boyd-Bowman, from Mexico.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Mexico, Central America, Ecuador; plural only) Chaps: leather leggings worn over the trousers by riders and cowboys, tied at the waist and fastened to the legs with straps.^[2][10][1]

Related words

• chaparro
• chaparral
• zahones
• English chaps

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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. chaparreras
3. ^ a b Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 468
4. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. chaparro
5. ^ 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. chaparro
6. ^ 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), p. 327
7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. chaparreras
8. ^ García Icazbalceta, Joaquín (1899), Vocabulario de mexicanismos comprobado con ejemplos y comparado con los de otros países hispano-americanos, México: La Europea, p. s.v. chaparreras
9. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 302
10. ^ 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. chaparreras
11. ^ Ramos y Duarte, Félix (1895), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Imprenta de Eduardo Dublán, p. 159
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. chaparreras