labrar

Forms

labrar (first-person singular present labro, first-person singular preterite labré, past participle labrado)^[1] Old Spanish texts also write laurar, lavrar and alabrar; the Fuero de Usagre has lablar.^[2][3][4] Asturian has llabrar, and the Lena dialect tsabrar.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin labōrō (“to work, toil”).^[6][7][1] Corominas records it from the earliest Spanish texts and the Cid, and calls it general in every period and common to all the Romance languages except French and Romanian.^[7] Medieval Latin already used the verb for tilling the land.^[8][9]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese lavrar, Galician labrar, Asturian llabrar, Catalan llaurar, Italian lavorare and Occitan lavorar.^[5][10] The French verb labourer is a borrowing from Latin.^[11][1] Its learned doublet is laborar.^[1][5]

The Latin verb is formed from labor (“work, labour”).^[12][1] De Vaan finds the usual link of the noun with lābō (“to totter”) unconvincing.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) describes the tent of the king of Morocco, held up by two poles con oro son labrados, “worked with gold”.^[3] The Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200) has it for work in general, Vi dias labraras, and the Fuero de Zorita (1218–c. 1250) for working a field, algun omne uiere ensu heredad laurar.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the prose of Alfonso X the verb already had the four main senses it has today: to work in a trade, to work a material such as stone or ivory, to till the land, and to build.^[14] Corominas notes that towards the end of the Middle Ages the family of labor narrowed towards farm work and needlework.^[7] The noun labrandera, a seamstress, is in the Celestina about 1490.^[7][15] The Romance verb could also mean to sew, weave, polish and even castrate.^[10]

The Autoridades of 1734 defined it first as working at any handicraft, then as rough-hewing and finishing, and as cultivating the land.^[16] The Academy's dictionary of 1884 added the figurative sense of something that makes a deep, lasting impression on the mind.^[17] In Mexico it is used for felling and trimming mahogany and cedar for transport, and in Tenerife for bees making honey.^[18][19]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has labrados, “worked” with gold (in a 14th-century copy).^[3][15]
• 1218–c. 1250 – the Fuero de Zorita uses laurar for working a field, the first record in a contemporary manuscript.^[3]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for working in a trade and for working stone.^[14]
• 1256–1300 – the Siete Partidas use it for tilling and for building.^[14]
• c. 1490 – labrandera, a seamstress, in the Celestina.^[7][15]
• 1531 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico: labrar su casa.^[20]
• 1734 – the Autoridades defines it.^[16]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the sense of a lasting impression on the mind.^[17]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To work a material such as wood, stone or metal into the shape needed for use; to carve or dress: Los canteros labraron cada sillar a mano.^[6][1][21]
2. (transitive) To plough or till land (arar).^[6][1]
3. (transitive) To hold land as a tenant.^[6]
4. (transitive) To bring about gradually: Con su terquedad labró su propia ruina.^[6][22]
5. (transitive) To work at a trade.^[6]
6. (transitive) To build a building.^[6][21]
7. (transitive) To sew or embroider.^[6]
8. (intransitive) Of a thing, to make a strong and lasting impression on the mind.^[6]
9. (Mexico) To fell and trim a tree of precious wood for transport.^[18]
10. (Tenerife) Of bees, to make honey.^[19]

Word family

• labrado
• labrador
• labranza
• labriego
• labradío
• labrantío
• labrandera
• labrante

Related words

• labor
• laborar
• laborioso
• elaborar
• Latin labōrō
• Portuguese lavrar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. labrar
3. ^ 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, p. s.v. labrar
4. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1929), Vocabulario medieval castellano, Madrid: Librería y Casa Editorial Hernando, p. s.v. labrar
5. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 3687
6. ^ 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. labrar
7. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 545
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. laborare
9. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. labrar
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ 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. labrar
15. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. labor
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 344
17. ^ 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. 625
18. ^ a b Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Porrúa, p. 651
19. ^ a b Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. labrar
20. ^ 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. labrar
21. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. labrar
22. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. labrar