lazo

Forms

lazo m (plural lazos)^[1] Old Spanish wrote it lazo, also laço and laso.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *lacium, a simplified form of Latin laqueus (“noose, snare”).^[4][5][6][7] Wiktionary gives the Vulgar Latin form as *laceum.^[1] The change is common to all the Romance languages and must already have happened in Vulgar Latin.^[4] Corominas explains it as a nearly forced simplification of a cluster hard to pronounce, not as a dissimilation.^[4] In Old Spanish, and in the dialects that still keep the distinction, the ⟨z⟩ was voiced, against the voiceless sound of Portuguese laço, a regular difference between the two languages.^[4]

The same word is Galician lazo, Asturian llazu, Catalan llaç, Occitan laç, French lacs, Italian laccio and Romanian laț.^[4][8][1] English lace, through Old French laz, has the same origin.^[1]

De Vaan finds no etymology for the Latin word, and rejects the derivation from laciō (“to entice”) on both phonetic and semantic grounds.^[9] Wiktionary connects it with Proto-Italic *lakʷ- (“to ensnare”), with no certain cognates.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest CDH hit, in the Fazienda de Ultramar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy), is the diminutive lazuelos, loops for joining curtains.^[3] The first text without a later copy, the Fuero de Zorita (1218–c. 1250), has the snare: whoever kills a dovecote pigeon en lazo o en otro engenno “in a snare or by some other device” pays a fine.^[3] Berceo, the DCECH's first record, uses it for a hangman's noose and for the devil's snare: del su mal laço déñanos defender “deign to defend us from his evil snare”.^[4][10][3]

Semantic evolution

In the prose of Alfonso X the word means a knot, a snare for game, a noose (a woman hangs herself dun lazo) and a trap in the moral sense.^[11] Covarrubias (1611) added ornamental flourishes in writing and painting and the zapato de lazo of countrymen, and described the lasso that the Indians throw at fifty paces.^[12] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1734) put first the bow of ribbon, then the trick or ambush and the bond of union, as in amoroso lazo.^[13]

The lasso of the American cattle country passed into English, first as laço in 1768 and as lasso from 1808.^[14][1] The DLE now lists the bow, the slipknot, the emblem of an order, figures in gardens and dances, the snare, the lasso, the rope that secures a load, a trick, and a bond or obligation.^[7]

Timeline

• 1218–c. 1250 – the Fuero de Zorita has en lazo.^[3]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo, the DCECH's and the BDELC's first record.^[4][5]
• 1280 – the General Estoria uses it for a noose and for a snare in the moral sense.^[11]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin nodus and laqueus, and pedica for the snare for wild animals.^[6]
• 1549 – first records from the Americas, in Puebla and Santo Domingo.^[15]
• 1611 – Covarrubias describes the lasso of the Indians.^[12]
• 1734 – the Diccionario de Autoridades puts the ribbon bow first.^[13]
• 1768 – English borrows the word as laço, later lasso.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bow of ribbon or the like, worn as an ornament: llevaba un lazo rojo en el pelo.^[7][1]
2. A slipknot that comes undone when one end is pulled.^[7]
3. An emblem made of a ribbon folded in a set way, as the insignia of an order.^[7]
4. An ornament of metal imitating a ribbon bow.^[7]
5. A pattern of box or myrtle in the beds of a garden.^[7]
6. An intricate figure in a dance.^[7]
7. A snare of twisted wire or horsehair with a running knot, for catching rabbits or birds.^[7][1]
8. A lasso, a rope with a running noose thrown to catch cattle or horses.^[7][1]
9. A cord that secures a load.^[7]
10. A trick or trap.^[7][1]
11. A bond, tie or obligation: los lazos de la amistad.^[7][1]
12. (architecture) An ornament of interlaced lines and fleurons on mouldings and friezes.^[7]

Word family

• lazada
• lacero
• lacear
• lazar
• enlazar
• enlace
• desenlazar
• desenlace
• entrelazar

Related words

• Latin laqueus
• Portuguese laço
• English lasso
• English lace

Usage notes

Armar lazo means “to lay a trap” for someone, a phrase already in Covarrubias.^[12][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. lazo
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. lazo
4. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 612
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. lazo
6. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. lazo
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. lazo
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 3768
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. s.v. lazo
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. lazo
12. ^ 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. 1071
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 372
14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ 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. lazo