mierda

Forms

mierda f (plural mierdas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish mierda, inherited from Latin merda (“dung, excrement”).^[2][3][1] Latin had a short vowel, ⟨ĕ⟩, and Spanish has the diphthong ⟨ie⟩ where the neighbouring languages keep ⟨e⟩.^[4][5]

The same Latin word is Portuguese merda, Galician merda, Asturian mierda, Aragonese mierda, Catalan merda, Occitan merda, French merde and Italian merda;^[6][1][7][8] Judeo-Spanish has Ladino medra.^[6][1][7][8]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[9][10] De Vaan derives it from Proto-Italic *smerdā and Proto-Indo-European *smerd-h₂- (“stench”), a collective “what stinks” that came to mean excrement, and compares Lithuanian smirdėti (“to stink”).^[11][1] Coromines and the DHLF, on the other hand, call it a vulgar word peculiar to Latin, without a sure etymology.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest records are in the municipal laws: the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250) fines anyone who soils another's door two maravedís, and makes him clear away la mierda, and the Fuero de Brihuega (c. 1242) punishes putting dung in another man's beard.^[12] DICCA-XV reports an earlier date of 1100 in Corominas, while the Breve diccionario gives 1495.^[13][2]

Semantic evolution

The medieval fueros used the word in its literal sense, in the laws on insults and assaults.^[12] Nebrija about 1495 gave Latin fimus and merda as its equivalents, and the Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as any filth, though usually human excrement.^[14][15] Terreros called it a very low word that should be avoided.^[16] The Academy's 1884 edition marked the sense “grease or dirt stuck to clothes” as figurative and familiar, and the 2001 edition added the worthless thing, the despicable person and the interjection.^[17][18]

Today the DLE labels every sense offensive and adds, for Spain, “drunkenness” and “drug”; slang also uses it for hashish.^[3][19] In Argentina un mierda is a selfish, ungenerous person, and in Puerto Rico the word can mean marijuana.^[20][21]

Timeline

• 1218–c. 1250 – the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes uses mierda.^[12]
• c. 1242 – the Fuero de Brihuega punishes putting mierda in a man's beard.^[12]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives fimus and merda as its Latin equivalents.^[14][13]
• 1571 – the first record from the Americas, in a Nahuatl vocabulary of Mexico City.^[22]
• 1734 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the word and its derivatives merdellón and jamerdar.^[15][2]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology “Del lat. merda”.^[17]
• 2001 – the Academy records the interjection ¡mierda!.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. (vulgar) Excrement, shit.^[3][1]
2. (vulgar) Dirt, filth.^[3]
3. (vulgar) A repugnant fact or situation: destapar la mierda.^[3]
4. (vulgar) Something badly made or of poor quality: Esta silla es una mierda.^[3][1]
5. (vulgar) Used to stress a bad physical or moral state: estar hecho una mierda.^[3][23]
6. (vulgar, Spain) Drunkenness; a drug, especially hashish.^[3][19][1]
7. (vulgar, masculine or feminine) A despicable person.^[3]

Interjection

1. (vulgar) Expresses annoyance or indignation: ¡Mierda, he perdido el tren!^[3][1]

Word family

• merdoso
• jamerdar
• comemierda
• ruedamierda
• merdellón

Related words

• Latin merda
• French merde

Usage notes

Set phrases include a la mierda, mandar a la mierda “to tell someone to get lost” and the adjectival de mierda “lousy, worthless”.^[3][23] As a noun for a person it takes either article: un mierda, una mierda.^[3][20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mierda
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. mierda
4. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. merda
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 4290
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5530
7. ^ a b Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. mierda
8. ^ a b Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. mierda
9. ^ a b 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, 605
10. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. merde
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. merda
12. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. mierda
13. ^ 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. mierda
14. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 380
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 565
16. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 583
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 702
18. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. mierda
19. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. mierda
20. ^ a b Garzón, Tobías (1910), Diccionario argentino, Barcelona: Imprenta Elzeviriana de Borrás y Mestres, p. 310
21. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. mierda
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. mierda
23. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mierda