largo

Forms

largo (feminine larga, masculine plural largos, feminine plural largas)^[1] Asturian has llargu.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin largus (“abundant, considerable; generous”).^[2][4][5][1] The modern sense “long” replaced the older luengo, from Latin longus, only at the end of the Middle Ages.^[2][4][1]

The same Latin word is Portuguese largo, Galician largo, Asturian llargu, Catalan llarg, Occitan larg, French large, Italian largo and Romanian larg.^[6][7][1] In most of these it means “wide”.^[2] The Catalan word took the sense “long” as well, and apparently earlier, since Ramon Llull already has it at the end of the 13th century.^[2][8] The DHLF explains that the Latin word took over the physical sense of lātus (“wide”) with the support of the word for “long”, with which it rhymed.^[9]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^[1] An old proposal derives it from a stem for “fat” seen in lāridum (“bacon”), but De Vaan finds the forms and the meaning doubtful.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word to the earliest texts.^[2][4] In the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140) it means “abundant, much”, as in riquizas largas “great riches”, and largo de lengua “well-spoken”.^[11][2]

Semantic evolution

In the Cid, the Libro de Alexandre, Apolonio and Berceo largo means only “copious, abundant, great, numerous” or “generous”, and so it is still in glossaries of about 1400 and in Palencia's dictionary.^[2][12] The Libro de buen amor has the sense “wide”, still the usual one in other Romance languages, and perhaps “big”.^[2] Corominas finds the sense “long” clearly only in Nebrija (1495), who still also gives largo en ancho “wide” and largo, liberal “generous”; by the Golden Age it was the main sense, the only one in C. de las Casas (1570), and Covarrubias (1611) gives it beside “liberal, spendthrift”.^[2][13] The verb largar “to let go, loosen”, from the old sense, is recorded about 1440 and is the source of French larguer (1609).^[4]

The Academy's 1817 edition has the nautical senses “slack” (of a rope) and “quartering” (of a wind), the noun “length” and the musical term for one of the slow movements.^[14] Wikcionario takes the musical largo from Italian.^[15] In Mexico and Central America the adjective also means “shameless, dishonest”.^[16]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses largo for “abundant”.^[11][4]
• 1220–1250 – first record of alargar.^[4]
• 1254 – Alfonso X's prose uses largo for “generous” and for “long-lasting” (larga vida).^[12]
• c. 1330 – first record of largueza “generosity”, in the Conde Lucanor.^[4][2]
• c. 1440 – first record of largar “to let go”.^[4]
• 1495 – Nebrija gives the sense “long” beside “wide” and “generous”; first record of largura.^[2][4]
• 1611 – Covarrubias glosses it as Latin longus.^[13]
• 1817 – the Academy records the noun “length” and the musical term.^[14]
• 1843 – first record of larguirucho.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. long: having length, or great length.^[5][1]
2. Generous, liberal.^[5]
3. Copious, abundant, excessive: largo en explicaciones.^[5]
4. Extensive, continued, long-lasting: una larga carrera.^[5][1]
5. Of a period of time, usually in the plural: felt as long, many: Vivió allí largos años.^[5]
6. Of a quantity, usually in the plural: a good, somewhat over the stated amount: tres kilos largos.^[5][1]
7. (colloquial) Shrewd, clever.^[5]
8. (phonetics) Of a vowel or syllable: long.^[5]
9. (nautical) Of a rope: slack, paid out.^[5]

Noun

1. Length, the longest dimension.^[5][1]
2. (swimming) A length of the pool.^[5]
3. (music) largo, a slow movement.^[5][14]

Interjection

1. Get out!, away with you!: ¡Largo de aquí!^[1]

Word family

• largura
• larguero
• larguirucho
• alargar
• cuellilargo
• largar
• rabilargo
• largueza

Related words

• luengo
• Latin largus
• Portuguese largo
• Catalan llarg

Usage notes

Common phrases are a lo largo de “along; throughout”, a la larga “in the long run”, dar largas “to put off” and pasar de largo “to pass by”.^[5][1][17] Wikcionario derives the musical term from Italian.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 586
3. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. llargu
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. largo
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. largo
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4913
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 3771
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. 5, 83
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. large
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. 321
12. ^ 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. largo
13. ^ 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. 1067
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 518
15. ^ a b Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
16. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. largo
17. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 659