hierro

Forms

hierro m (plural hierros)^[1] Old Spanish wrote fierro, the form of all authors who kept initial f-;^[2] hierro is first recorded in Nebrija.^[3][4] Fierro is still the popular form in much of Spanish America, and in Chile in all social classes; in Venezuela, the Antilles and parts of Mexico and Guatemala popular speech has jierro.^[3] Dialect forms include jierro in Cantabria and guierro in Navarre.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish fierro, inherited from Latin ferrum (“iron, steel”).^[3][4][5][1] By the middle of the 16th century the form with ⟨h⟩, silent or aspirated, already prevailed in Biscay, Old Castile and Toledo, and both Juan de Valdés and Nebrija preferred it.^[3] Corominas suggests that the form with /f/ prevailed in most of Spanish America through the strong influence of Leonese, where initial /f/ survives;^[3] the BDELC adds Andalusian influence.^[4] ferro “anchor”, recorded from 1599, is a nautical borrowing from Catalan, as its undiphthongised vowel shows.^[3][4]

The same Latin word is Portuguese ferro, Galician ferro, Asturian fierro, French fer, Italian ferro and Romanian fier;^[6][2] Catalan had ferre in 1249 and ferro by 1373.^[7]

De Vaan takes the Latin word for a loan from an unidentified source, perhaps a Phoenician dialect, comparing the Semitic word for iron seen in Biblical Hebrew בַּרְזֶל (barzel).^[8][1] Others suppose that it came through Etruscan; iron-working reached the Indo-European peoples late, and the names of the metal differ from language to language.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is fierro in a charter of Cardeña of 1065, and the Cantar de mio Cid has the word too.^[3][4] Alfonso X's Lapidario (1250–1279) uses it for the metal, in a passage on the magnet: el fierro que uence todos los otros metales “iron, which overcomes all the other metals” by its strength.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Already in Alfonso X's prose the word also names the iron head of a lance or arrow, any iron weapon or tool, and, in the plural, fetters.^[10] Covarrubias in 1611 records hierro for a sword, the proverb Quien con hierro mata, a hierro ha de morir, tener a uno en hierros “to keep someone in prison”, the hierro albo of red-hot iron used in ordeals, and the brand put on pedigree horses.^[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades gives the metal, the brand on horses and cattle, and any weapon that wounds.^[12] In 1855 Baralt criticised as Gallicisms such figurative uses as gemir en los hierros “to groan in chains”.^[13]

In 1884 the Academy described the metal by its physical properties for the first time.^[14] The DLE now defines it as the chemical element of atomic number 26, and adds the herd of a breeder of fighting bulls and the iron club of golf.^[5] In the Americas fierro keeps special senses such as “tool”, “cattle brand” and “knife” in Guatemala and Argentina.^[3] In the Dominican Republic and Venezuela hierro is a revolver or pistol, and in Cuba the plural names the tools of a trade.^[15][16] In the Canaries it also means a cowbell.^[17]

Timeline

• 1065 – fierro in a charter of Cardeña.^[3][4]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has fierro.^[3]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses fierro for the metal and for the iron point of weapons.^[10]
• 1254 – the Judizios de las estrellas uses the plural fierros for fetters.^[10]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija has the form hierro, for the metal, a surgeon's instrument and a branding iron.^[3][4]
• 1512 – the first records from the Americas, in Puerto Rico, as fierro and hierros.^[18]
• 1599 – ferro “anchor” is borrowed from Catalan.^[4]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records the proverb Quien con hierro mata, a hierro ha de morir.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, from Latin ferrum.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chemistry) iron, the metallic chemical element of atomic number 26 (symbol Fe), the metal most used in industry.^[5][1]
2. A branding iron for marking cattle, and formerly criminals or slaves.^[5][1]
3. The brand burnt into the hide of cattle with such an iron.^[5][1]
4. (bullfighting) The herd of a breeder of fighting bulls: Los toros de este hierro salen bravos.^[5][19]
5. A mark, and the tool that makes it, put on goods as a guarantee or hallmark.^[5]
6. The iron or steel head of a lance, arrow or similar weapon.^[5]
7. A weapon, tool or piece of iron or steel.^[5][1]
8. (golf) A golf club with an iron head used for strokes needing precision rather than power.^[5]
9. (Venezuela, colloquial) A clothes iron.^[5]
10. (in the plural) fetters, chains and other irons for prisoners: Lo sacaron de la celda cargado de hierros.^[5]
11. (in the plural, Cuba, Dominican Republic) The tools of a trade.^[5][15]
12. (Dominican Republic, Venezuela, colloquial) A revolver or pistol.^[15][16]

Word family

• herrar
• hierra
• herrada
• herrador
• herradura
• herraje
• desherrar

Related words

• ferrar
• férreo
• ferro-
• ferrocarril
• ferroso
• ferrovía
• ferroviario
• herramienta
• herrero
• fierro
• ferro
• Latin ferrum

Usage notes

Hierro and yerro “error” sound the same;^[19][1] Corominas calls the idea that they should be pronounced differently a groundless prejudice.^[3] Covarrubias already explained that hierro is from ferrum and yerro from error.^[11] Phrases include de hierro “very strong, unbreakable” and quitar hierro “to play something down”.^[19][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. ferrum
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 355
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. hierro
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. hierro
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3262
7. ^ 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, 979
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d 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. hierro
11. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 977
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 153
13. ^ Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 358
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. 565
15. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. hierro
16. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. hierro
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. hierro
18. ^ 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. fierro
19. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. hierro