libra

Forms

libra f (plural libras)^[1] Old Spanish also writes liura and livra, as in Alfonso X's liuras of 1277.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish libra, inherited from Latin lībra (“pound (weight); pair of scales”).^{[4][5][6][1][7]} The same word is Portuguese libra, Galician libra, Asturian llibra and Catalan lliura, as well as French livre.^[8][1][9] Corominas notes that it is common to all the western Romance languages.^[4] Spanish lira is a doublet, and in the sense of the English unit the word is a calque of English pound.^[1]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *leiþra- (“pound”) and thinks that Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra), the name of a Sicilian coin, was borrowed from an Italic language at a stage that still had the older consonant cluster.^[10][1] A suffix *-dʰro- is possible in theory, but the root is unidentified, and the name of a coin may well be a loanword.^[10] Weiss derives it from Proto-Indo-European *leyH- (“to pour”), as an original “pouring of metal”.^[1] The DHLF takes it as probably a word of the civilisations before the Indo-Europeans, and also mentions a Celtic adjective derived from the word for lead.^[9] Gómez de Silva calls it probably Mediterranean.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first records are a document of 1100 and the Fuero de Guadalajara of 1219.^[4][5] The DEMel gives libras in a municipal fuero of 1102.^[2] The Fuero de Madrid (in a copy of the first half of the 13th century) prices fish by the pound: De los barbos fagan II baruos libra “of barbels let them make two barbels to the pound”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In Alfonso X's prose the word already names a weight of sixteen ounces, an old coin (mill libras de oro “a thousand pounds of gold”), a measure of liquids and the seventh sign of the zodiac.^[3] The zodiac sign appears around 1250 in the Donzella Teodor and Alfonso X's Setenario.^[13] Nebrija (1495) defines the weight as twelve ounces and also records the coin.^[4][14]

Covarrubias (1611) notes that the ounces vary with the region and the goods weighed, that in other kingdoms libra was a sum of money counted in reals, and that the butcher's pound was twice the ordinary one.^[15] Autoridades gives sixteen ounces, and twelve for apothecaries.^[16] The DLE still lists the regional values: 16 ounces in Castile, 12 in Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearics, 17 in the Basque provinces and 20 in Galicia, with a libra carnicera of 36 ounces for meat and fish.^[6] In Asturias the butcher's pound was 24 ounces.^[17]

The Castilian pound of sixteen ounces has been used in Puerto Rico since the beginning of colonisation.^[18] Today libra is chiefly the currency of the United Kingdom and some other countries, and the English unit of weight.^[6][1] In Spain it also names the two tablets of a bar of chocolate, and in León the afterbirth of animals.^[19][20] In Cuba it is a tobacco leaf of top quality, and in El Salvador and Nicaragua a small quantity of marijuana.^[21]

Timeline

• 1100 – Corominas's first record, in a document.^[4]
• 1102 – libras in a municipal fuero.^[2]
• 1219 – the Fuero de Guadalajara.^[4][5]
• c. 1250 – Libra, the zodiac sign, in the Donzella Teodor.^[13]
• 1256 – a measure of liquids, dos libras de agua.^[3]
• 1277 – Alfonso X's astronomical works write liuras.^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija defines it as a weight of twelve ounces and a coin.^[4][14]
• 1524 – first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[22]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records the libra carnizera.^[15]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades gives sixteen ounces.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. The pound sterling, the currency of the United Kingdom.^[6][1]
2. The currency of several other countries, such as Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, and of Ireland before the euro.^[6]
3. An old coin of various countries and periods.^[6][1]
4. An old Castilian weight of 16 ounces (onzas), about 460 g, with other values in other regions.^[6][1]
5. The English or American pound, about 453.6 g.^[1]
6. A measure of capacity holding a pound of a liquid.^[6][19]
7. In oil mills (almazaras), the weight hung at the end of the beam to press the paste.^[19]
8. (Cuba) A tobacco leaf of top quality.^[21][23]

Adjective

1. (astrology) Born under the sign of Libra; also as a noun: Mi hermana es libra.^[6][1]

Word family

• libreta
• librear

Related words

• lira
• libélula
• litro
• nivel
• equilibrio
• Latin lībra
• Catalan lliura

Usage notes

Written with a capital, Libra is the constellation and the seventh sign of the zodiac.^[1][24] Libra esterlina is the full name of the British pound, and libra carnicera was a pound of 36 ounces for meat and fish.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. libra
3. ^ 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. libra
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, 642
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. libra
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. libra
7. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. libra
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 3854
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. livre
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 422
12. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. libra
13. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. libra 2
14. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 371
15. ^ 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. 1084
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 397
17. ^ Rato y Hevia, Apolinar de (1891), Vocabulario de las palabras y frases bables que se hablaron antiguamente y de las que hoy se hablan en el Principado de Asturias, Madrid: Manuel G. Hernández, p. 75
18. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. libra
19. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. libra
20. ^ 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. libra
21. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. libra
22. ^ 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. libra
23. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. libra
24. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. libra