mesón

mesón¹ inn

Pronunciation

• /meˈson/, [meˈsõn]^[1]

Forms

mesón m (plural mesones)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the inn is inherited from Old Spanish meson, from Latin mansiō (“a stay; lodging”), but Corominas doubts whether it continues the Latin word directly or was borrowed from French maison (“house”), brought by the monks of Cluny and the French settlers of Toledo.^[2][3] The DLE gives the Latin word with the influence of French, Wiktionary the Latin word perhaps through French, and Covarrubias already called it French.^[4][1][5] In favour of French Corominas notes the spelling maison in Aragonese documents of 1073 and 1074, in Berceo and in the Cantigas of Alfonso X; the early Toledo records, which refer to houses of religious orders, the Templars or Calatrava; and the many Gallicisms of those documents.^[2] The sense “inn, roadside lodging” is not recorded in France, however, and may continue the Latin word as used of the Roman posting stations, as the native Old Galician-Portuguese meijão (“house”) does.^[2]

The Latin noun is formed from maneō (“to remain, stay”) with the suffix -tiō; it meant a stay, then a lodging, and in Late Latin a stage or night's halt on a journey.^[6][1][7] The same Latin word is the source of the French one and of Italian magione; in Catalan the word died out, leaving a stray mesó in a document of 1178.^[8][2][9] The learned doublet is mansión, from about 1440.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first records are maison in a Toledo document of 1173 and le meson in one of 1181, both of houses of religious orders.^[2] The CDH's earliest hit is the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (c. 1215, in a 14th-century copy), where sus mesones are the companions' dwellings; the first without a later witness is the Fuero de Úbeda (1251–1285), with a title on ostalajes and mesones and on guests.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “house, dwelling” was soon narrowed to the public house that lodges travellers: Alfonso X's Estoria de España has todos los mesones, que segund el pueblo llamamos tiendas “all the inns, which the people call shops”.^[11][10] Nebrija gave Latin diversorium, caupona and stabulum for it, Covarrubias the public lodging where strangers find shelter for themselves and their mounts.^[12][5] In the Americas it is recorded from Puebla in 1542.^[13] Since the inns disappeared it has named a tavern or restaurant with a rustic, traditional look.^[4][14]

In several American countries it names a kitchen counter of brick or tile, the counter of a shop (Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay), and in Honduras and El Salvador a large house let room by room to families.^[15] Román explained the Chilean mesón “counter” as an augmentative of mesa, not the inn word.^[16]

Timeline

• 1173 – a Toledo document has maison.^[2][3]
• 1181 – another has le meson.^[2]
• c. 1215 – the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (14th-century copy) uses mesones for dwellings.^[10]
• 1251–1285 – the Fuero de Úbeda has a title on mesones and guests.^[10]
• 1349 – el meson in a Toledo document, the BDELC's date for the modern form.^[3][2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives its Latin equivalents.^[12][17]
• 1542 – first recorded in the Americas, in Puebla.^[13]
• 1611 – Covarrubias calls the word French.^[5]
• 1884 – the Academy derives it from French maison.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tavern or restaurant with a traditional look where food and drink are served: Cenamos en un mesón de la parte vieja.^[4][14][1]
2. (historical) An inn, a public house that lodged travellers, their mounts and carriages for money (posada).^[4][1]
3. (Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador) A kitchen counter for preparing food; in Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay also the counter of a shop or bar.^[15][1]
4. (Honduras, El Salvador) A large house in which each room is let to a family.^[15]

Word family

• mesonero
• mesnada

mesón² meson

Pronunciation

• /meˈson/, [meˈsõn]^[1]

Forms

mesón m (plural mesones)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the particle is formed from Spanish meso- + -ón, the ending being that of electrón and protón.^[4][1][19] meso- is from Ancient Greek μεσο- (meso-), the combining form of μέσος (mésos, “middle”).^[20][19] Wikcionario takes it from English meson instead; the English word is recorded from 1939, after the earlier mesotron (1938), and was so called because its mass was thought to lie between those of the proton and the electron.^[21][22][23]

Meanings

Noun

1. (physics) A meson: any of the short-lived particles produced in some nuclear reactions, with a mass between those of the electrón and the nucleón; they take part in the strong interaction.^[4][23][1] In current physics a meson is a hadrón made of a quark and an antiquark.^[21]