faro

Forms

faro m (plural faros)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin pharus (“lighthouse”), from Ancient Greek φάρος (pháros), the common noun made from the name of the island of Pharos, off the harbour of Alexandria where the most famous lighthouse of antiquity was built.^[2][3][1][4] Vox dates the borrowing to the 17th century, and the BDELC's first record is from 1611, but Alfonso X's General Estoria already writes ⟨pharo⟩ in 1280.^[5][3][6]

The Latin word also gives Italian faro, French phare, Catalan far, Portuguese faro and Asturian faru.^[1][7][8][9] Wiktionary calls the origin of the island's Greek name uncertain; one proposal derives it from an unrecorded Egyptian name of the island.^[1]

The noun farol, recorded from 1492, has a separate source: it is a Castilian adaptation of Old Catalan faró, which goes back to a Byzantine Greek blend of the words for “lighthouse” and “lantern”.^[3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fourth part of Alfonso X's General Estoria (1280) describes the pharo that Sostratus of Cnidus built at Alexandria: que fue aquel pharo obra muy marauillosa. & diz que era una torre muy alta assentada en la ribera de la mar “that this lighthouse was a most marvellous work, and he says it was a very tall tower standing on the seashore”, whose fire could be seen from far along the coasts.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Covarrubias in 1611 tells the story of the tower on the island of Pharos, built by Ptolemy Philadelphus with Sostratus of Cnidus as architect, where fires were lit every night to guide ships, and says that all later towers built for the same purpose took its name.^[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades defines the tower for lights that guide sailors, and notes that others take the word for a strait where such towers stand, quoting Mariana's estrecho o faro de Mecina; it adds that the word ought to be spelt with ⟨ph⟩, but usage is against it.^[12]

The figurative sense, a light or guide in uncertain or critical times, is first described by Domínguez in 1846, especially in poetry, and the Academy enters it in 1884, together with the etymology.^[13][14] A Mexican text of 1750 already calls each friar un místico faro.^[15] The DRAE of 2001 and the DLE add a lantern with a powerful reflector and the headlights of motor vehicles.^[16][2]

In the Canaries faro names a shrub with bright yellow flowers, so called from their strong colour.^[17][18] In Leonese it means the grey haze seen on the horizon on very hot days, a sense the Academy does not record.^[19]

Timeline

• 1280 – Alfonso X's General Estoria describes the pharo of Alexandria.^[6]
• 1611 – Covarrubias tells the story of the Pharos and gives the general sense “lighthouse”; this is the BDELC's first record.^[11][3]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines the lighthouse and notes the use for a strait.^[12]
• 1746 – the first record in the Americas, in Mexico.^[15]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros gives French phare and Italian faro as equivalents.^[20]
• 1846 – Domínguez describes the figurative use in poetry.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin pharus and the figurative sense.^[14]
• 2001 – the Academy's dictionary includes the headlights of motor vehicles.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. lighthouse: a tall tower on the coast with a light at the top, which guides ships at night.^[2][1]
2. A lantern with a powerful reflector.^[2]
3. Each of the headlights of a motor vehicle; also the light of a bicycle: Enciende los faros, que ya anochece.^[2][1]
4. (figurative) Something that sheds light on a matter, or a guide for thought or conduct.^[2][21]

Word family

• farero
• aerofaro
• radiofaro

Related words

• farol
• farola
• fanal
• Latin pharus

Usage notes

Other words spelt faro have other sources: a strong Belgian beer, from Walloon, and a card game of the 19th century, whose name the Wikcionario takes from English.^[22][21][23] In Venezuela faro is an opossum, which the chroniclers called fara.^[24][25][26]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. faro
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. faro
4. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 302
5. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. faro
6. ^ a b c 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. faro
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
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. 3, 881
9. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. faro
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. farol
11. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 833
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 722
13. ^ a b 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. 795
14. ^ 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. 489
15. ^ 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. faro
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. faro
17. ^ Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. faro
18. ^ Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. faro
19. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. faro
20. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 149
21. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. faro
22. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 760
23. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
24. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 636
25. ^ Alvarado, Lisandro (1921), Glosario de voces indígenas de Venezuela, Caracas: Victoria, p. 136
26. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer