mármol

Forms

mármol m (plural mármoles)^[1] The older form mármor, without dissimilation, is still found in Alfonso de Palencia and other old and classical texts, and Autoridades still recognised it.^[2][3] Nebrija already has mármol.^[2] The Libro de Apolonio also has márbor, and an Aragonese inventory of 1488 has márbol, under the influence of Catalan marbre.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish mármor, inherited from Latin marmor (“marble”), with the second /r/ changed to /l/ by dissimilation.^{[2][4][5][1][3]} Corominas counts it a popular word, since Castilian keeps the vowel after the stress in such words, as in árbol, miércoles and víspera.^[2]

The same Latin word is Portuguese mármore, Galician mármore, Asturian mármole, Catalan marbre, French marbre, Italian marmo and Romanian marmură.^[6][7] Coromines explains the Catalan form through an intermediate stage with /mbr/.^[8]

The Latin noun, a neuter, is an adaptation of μάρμαρος (mármaros).^[9][1] In Homer the Greek word means “stone, rock”, and the sense “white stone, marble” is later.^[10] Its origin is uncertain: Frisk connects it with μάρναμαι (márnamai, “to fight”), others directly with μαρμαίρω (marmaírō, “to sparkle”), and Beekes suggests a Pre-Greek word.^[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is the Libro de Apolonio (c. 1250, in a 14th-century copy), where a rich tomb is made de hun mármol tan blanquo como huna camisa “of a marble as white as a shirt”.^[2][4][11] The CDH has an earlier hit in the Semejanza del mundo, dated c. 1223, but that text survives only in a 15th-century copy.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's Lapidario describes the stone under the name marmor, and the General Estoria (1280) uses the plural for works and pieces of marble.^[12] The stone soon stood for hardness of heart: the Quijote calls the hard-hearted Marcela a marble, and a writer in Santo Domingo in 1549 speaks of events that could not be heard without tears even by hearts of marble.^[13][14] A Mexican text of 1576 compares a native stone with the mármor of Spain.^[14]

The Academy's 1869 dictionary adds the iron plate on which glassmakers shape their pieces.^[15] The 1899 edition gives the etymology and a description of marble as a metamorphic limestone.^[16] In Chile para el mármol is said of a phrase worth carving in stone.^[17] The word passed into Tagalog and Chavacano.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – first record, in the Libro de Apolonio.^[2][4]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario describes the stone as marmor.^[12]
• 1280 – the General Estoria uses the plural for works of marble.^[12]
• c. 1440 – the learned adjective marmóreo is first recorded.^[4]
• 1488 – an Aragonese inventory has the form márbol.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija has mármol, with marmoleño “of marble”.^[2][18]
• 1546 – first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[14]
• 1869 – the Academy's dictionary adds the glassmakers' iron plate.^[15]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, from Latin marmor.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. marble: a compact, crystalline metamorphic limestone that takes a high polish, often coloured or veined by other minerals: La escalera del palacio era de mármol blanco.^[5][1]
2. A work of art in marble, such as a statue.^[5][19]
3. In glassworks, the iron plate on which pieces are shaped.^[5][20]

Word family

• marmolista
• marmoleño
• marmolejo
• marmolería

Related words

• marmóreo
• Latin marmor
• Portuguese mármore

Usage notes

Kinds of marble are named with set phrases such as mármol de Carrara, the pure white marble of that Italian city, and mármol brocatel, veined in several colours.^[20][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 855
3. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mármol
5. ^ a b c d e 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. mármol
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
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, 465
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. mármol
12. ^ 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. mármol
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b c 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. mármol
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 493
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 638
17. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. mármol
18. ^ 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. mármol
19. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. mármol
20. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mármol