espeto

Forms

espeto m (plural espetos)^[1] Old and modern Aragonese have espedo (inventories of 1331, 1379 and 1497), and Torla in the Alto Aragón espito;^[2][3] Asturian has espetu.^[2][3] A 12th-century document of the Ebro reconquest has the form espetz.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Gothic *𐍃𐍀𐌹𐍄𐌿𐍃 (*spitus, “roasting spit”).^[2][5][6][7] The Germanic word is *spitō (“rod”), which gave Old English spitu, English spit and Dutch spit.^[1][2][8] The Germanic word is already found, in a Latinised form, in the Reichenau Glosses of the 8th century.^[2] Wiktionary also names a Gothic or Suevic derivative of *speutą (“spear”) as an alternative.^[1] Corominas keeps the two Germanic words apart: from the “spear” word come French épieu and Occitan espeut, while Italian spiedo combines both meanings.^[2]

The same Gothic word is Galician espeto and Portuguese espeto, recorded in Portuguese from the 13th century.^[2][1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca of about 1215, known from a 14th-century copy, where the saint's thin arms and fingers look like spits: cuando los tiende semejan espetos.^[10][2] The Fuero de Ledesma, before 1252, lists .ii. espetos among household goods, the earliest record surviving in a contemporary copy.^[10]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word appears in inventories and wills beside cauldrons and trivets, as the iron spit of the kitchen, and Alfonso X uses it for a long thin rod in his astronomical works.^[10][11] Autoridades called it a word much used in Galicia.^[12] From 1817 to 1899 the Academy marked it as obsolete, with asador as its meaning.^[13][14] Corominas notes that espetón has replaced it.^[2] The current dictionary marks the sense “long thin iron, such as a spit or a rapier” as rare.^[6]

In Andalusia espeto is a skewer or cane on which sardines are threaded to be roasted, and the set of sardines so cooked.^[6][1] In Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay espeto corrido is an all-you-can-eat menu at a fixed price, and the restaurant that offers it.^[15]

Timeline

• 12th century – the form espetz in a document of the Ebro reconquest.^[4]
• c. 1215 – Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (in a 14th-century copy).^[10][2][5]
• before 1252 – the Fuero de Ledesma lists two spits among household goods.^[10]
• 1251 – the derived verb espetar in the Calila e Dimna.^[2][5]
• 1277 – Alfonso X's astronomical works use it for a thin iron rod.^[11]
• 1634 – first record in the Americas, in Nueva Vizcaya.^[16]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades calls it a Galician word.^[12]
• 1817 – the Academy marks it as obsolete.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rare) A long thin iron, such as a spit for roasting or a rapier.^[6][7]
2. (Andalusia) Sardines threaded on a skewer or a cane and roasted over a fire, and the skewer itself.^[6][1]
3. (Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay) In espeto corrido: an all-you-can-eat menu at a fixed price, and a restaurant that serves one.^[15]

Word family

• espetar
• espetera
• espetón

Related words

• Galician espeto
• English spit

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 741
3. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 6263
4. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. espeto
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. espeto
6. ^ a b c d e 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. espeto
7. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. espeto
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *spitō
9. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 1421
10. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE
11. ^ 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. espeto
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 601
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 388
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 425
15. ^ 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. espeto
16. ^ 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. espeto