obra

Forms

obra f (plural obras)^[1] The older Old Spanish form is huebra;^[2] DEMel also records hobra and vobra.^[3][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish obra, inherited from Latin opera (“work, effort”); the older form huebra gave way to it under the influence of the verb obrar.^[3][1][4][5] Modern Spanish keeps it as huebra, a day's work in the fields and the land that can be ploughed in a day, with the dialect forms huerba and güebra.^[3][6] The same Latin word had these meanings in the Middle Ages: a day's compulsory field labour, and a measure of land ploughed in one day.^[7] ópera, borrowed from Italian and first recorded in 1737, is a doublet.^[3][1]

The same word is Portuguese obra, Catalan obra, Occitan òbra and Italian opera.^[8][6][9] Wiktionary explains the Latin noun as the plural of opus (“work”) taken as a feminine singular.^[1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that noun, which he traces to Proto-Italic *opes- (“work”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-os (“work”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the old form huebra to about 1140, especially in the sense “the work done in one day”, and obra to about 1250.^[3] In the CDH the earliest text is the Fuero de Madrid (dated between 1141 and 1235, in a copy of the first half of the 13th century), which speaks of a payment „per a la obra del adarue” “for the building of the wall-walk”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

By the time of Alfonso X the word meant a thing made by someone, a work of the mind (“the work of astrology”), a building under construction, and the effect or power of something, such as a precious stone.^[12] Berceo uses it for work and practice, and also for fine handiwork: a chasuble „obra era angelica, non de omne texida”.^[13] The Diccionario de Autoridades recorded the writings of an author and a building being put up or repaired.^[14] An obra de with a number meant “about”: obra de diez leguas “about ten leagues” is recorded in Santa Marta in 1526.^[15][16] The Academy's 1843 edition gives the proverb obra comenzada no te la vea suegra ni cuñada, advice to hide a plan from those who might stop it.^[17]

Baralt rejected poner en obra in the French sense “to make use of” as a gallicism.^[18] In Cuba obra also meant a trick or tall story.^[19] Building terms vary across the Americas: obra negra and obra gris are a building that still lacks its finishes, and obra fina the finishing work.^[20]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the old form huebra.^[3]
• 1141–1235 – the Fuero de Madrid speaks of the building of the town wall, in a 13th-century copy.^[11]
• c. 1250 – the form obra.^[3]
• 1254–1260 – Alfonso X's Libro conplido speaks of “the work of astrology”.^[12]
• 1272–1275 – the General estoria uses it for a building.^[12]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin opus for the thing made.^[21]
• 1526 – obra de “about” in Santa Marta, the first record from the Americas.^[15]
• 1737 – the doublet ópera is borrowed from Italian.^[3]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary first gives the etymology, from Latin opera.^[22]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something made or produced by an agent: El incendio fue obra de un descuido.^[4][5]
2. A work of science, literature or art, especially an important one: una obra de Velázquez.^[4][1]
3. Of books, the volume or volumes that contain a complete literary work.^[4]
4. A building under construction; a place where something is being built or a road is being repaired.^[4][1]
5. Building work done in a house: Este verano hacemos obra en la cocina.^[4][5]
6. Means, power or agency, as in por obra de “through the action of”.^[4]
7. The labour or time that a piece of work demands.^[4][5]
8. The work an artisan has to do.^[4]
9. (usually in the plural) A moral act, especially one that helps or harms the soul: buenas obras.^[4]
10. A sum paid to the fabric fund of a parish, collegiate church or cathedral.^[4]
11. (engineering) The narrow prismatic part of a blast furnace just above the hearth.^[4][5]

Related words

• huebra
• maniobra
• obrador
• obrar
• obrero
• ópera
• operar
• Latin opus
• Portuguese obra

Usage notes

Common set phrases are obra maestra “masterpiece”, mano de obra “labour, workforce”, obra de caridad or buena obra “good deed” and manos a la obra “let's get to work”.^[1][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. obra
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. obrar
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. obra
5. ^ a b c d e Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. obra
6. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 4693
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. opera
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6079
9. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2365
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, 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. obra
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. obra
13. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 530
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 6
15. ^ a b 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. obra
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 607
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 505
18. ^ Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 471
19. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 343
20. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. obra
21. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 388
22. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 750