pera

Forms

pera f (plural peras)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish pera, inherited from Vulgar Latin *pira, the plural of Latin pirum (“pear”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin neuter plural was taken as a feminine singular, as in several other Spanish fruit names, such as ciruela, manzana and mora.^[5][6][7] The Latin singular survives in pero, a kind of apple.^[8][3]

The word is common to all the Romance languages: Portuguese pera, Galician pera, Catalan pera, Occitan pera, French poire, Italian pera and Romanian pară.^[2][9][8]

De Vaan considers the Latin word a loanword from a Mediterranean language, like Ancient Greek ἄπιον (ápion, “pear”); he rejects a derivation from Indo-European because it does not explain the vowel of the Latin word.^[10] The DHLF too calls it of unknown origin, as the names of most fruit trees are.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH's first record is a charter of 1049 in Oelschläger's list;^[12] Berceo uses the word in the 13th century.^[2][3] In his Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos (c. 1236) it is the forbidden fruit of Adam and Eve: quando mordieron ambos la devedada pera “when both bit the forbidden pear”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish already used the fruit in phrases: the Libro de Alexandre (1240–1250) warns that no one should partirse peras with his lord, that is, treat him as an equal, and Covarrubias in 1611 gives the proverb ni en burlas ni en veras con tu amo no partas peras.^[12][13] Cervantes uses pedir peras al olmo “to ask the elm for pears”, for asking the impossible.^[14]

The 1737 Autoridades added the tuft of beard grown at the tip of the chin, “so called because it is usually shaped like a pear”, and a figurative sense “a sum of money”.^[15] The Academy's 1817 edition defined this as a lucrative and easy post.^[16] Later senses come from the shape of the fruit: a rubber bulb for squirting liquids or air, and a pear-shaped bell-push or light switch.^[4]

In the Americas the Spaniards gave the name to the avocado, as a writer in Arequipa explained in 1571, and in Peru pera was still used for the large avocado.^[17][18] In Argentina, Uruguay and Chile pera is the chin.^[4][19] In colloquial Spanish of Spain a niño pera is an affectedly elegant young man.^[4][20]

Timeline

• 1049 – the first record, in a charter.^[2][3]
• c. 1236 – Berceo's la devedada pera.^[12]
• 1240–1250 – partirse peras in the Libro de Alexandre.^[12]
• c. 1256 – a text of Alfonso X's prose lists peras among fruits.^[21]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin pyrum.^[22]
• 1548 – the first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[17]
• 1571 – in Arequipa the avocado is called pera for its shape.^[17]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records the proverb about sharing pears with one's master.^[13]
• 1737 – the Autoridades adds the pointed tuft of beard.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. pear, the fruit of the peral.^[4][1]
2. A rubber bulb shaped like a pear, used to squirt liquids or air.^[4][23]
3. A pear-shaped bell-push or light switch.^[4]
4. A tuft of hair grown at the tip of the chin; a goatee (perilla).^[4][23]
5. (dated, figurative) A lucrative and easy post; a sinecure.^[4]
6. (veterinary) An inflammation between the hooves of the forelegs of sheep that makes them limp.^[4]
7. (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile) The chin.^[4][19][1]
8. (boxing) A speed bag.^[1]

Adjective

1. (colloquial) Of a person: affectedly elegant and refined, verging on the cursi.^[4]

Word family

• peral
• pereda
• perilla
• pero
• peruétano

Related words

• piriforme
• Latin pirum
• French poire
• Catalan pera

Usage notes

Idioms include pedir peras al olmo “to ask for the impossible” and partir peras con alguien “to be on familiar terms with someone”.^[24][14] In Spain la pera or la pera limonera is colloquial for “the limit, the best or the worst there is”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 486
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pera
4. ^ 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. pera
5. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. pera
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 538
7. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. pera
8. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. pirum
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 569
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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. poire
12. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. pera
13. ^ 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. 1206
14. ^ a b 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, p. 858
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 211
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 659
17. ^ 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. pera
18. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 447
19. ^ 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. pera
20. ^ León, Víctor (1980), Diccionario de argot español y lenguaje popular, Madrid: Alianza Editorial, p. s.v. pera
21. ^ 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. pera
22. ^ 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. pera
23. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pera
24. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1358