polea

Forms

polea f (plural poleas)^[1]

Etymology

It probably continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *polidia, a neuter plural taken as a feminine singular, of a *polidium borrowed from a Late Greek *πολίδιον (*polídion, “little pivot”), the diminutive of πόλος (pólos, “pivot, axis”).^[2][3][4][5] Gaston Paris proposed this etymon after rejecting all earlier ones;^[1] Corominas accepts it as sound in form, but notes that a pulley is not an axle, so an intermediate step is still unknown.^[2] He considers it certain in any case that the word comes from the family of the Greek noun, probably as a nautical or engineering term, and compares πολέω (poléō, “to turn about”).^[2] The Greek noun itself goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to turn”).^[1]

The Romance forms point to a base with open /ɛ/ in ⟨-eja⟩: Catalan politja (old and dialectal polija, from 1331), Old Occitan polieja, French poulie (from about 1160) and the rare Italian puleggia.^[2][6][7] Corominas explains the Spanish ending as in deseo and poleo, and rejects Meyer-Lübke's view that Spanish took the word from Occitan, the Occitan form ending in ⟨-ieja⟩.^[2] Wiktionary nevertheless has it borrowed from Old Occitan poleia, and the DLE and Moliner derive it from the French word.^[1][8][9] Portuguese polé, with its intact /l/, was borrowed from Castilian.^[2][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in the CDH is the Ordenamiento portuario de Sevilla of 1302, which mentions a charge of four maravedís for hoisting con polea “with a pulley”.^[11] Corominas's first record is an inventory of 1434, and he notes that a Galician document of 911 already mentions velos de polegia, curtains raised and lowered with pulleys.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso de Palencia in 1490 describes poleas at the top of a mast through which the ropes run, and the word is a nautical term from 1519.^[2][11] Nebrija translates it with Latin vertibulum, and Covarrubias in 1611 calls it the little wheel over which the rope runs that raises a weight.^[12][13] Autoridades (1737) refers the general sense to garrucha and gives a nautical one, a long block with two sheaves.^[14] The Academy's 1884 dictionary derived it from Low Latin polea and that from Old English pullian “to pull”;^[15][16][17] Barcia had already rejected this, and Alemany in 1917 proposed Greek pólos “axis”.^[15][16][17] In machinery the word also came to mean the flat-rimmed wheel of a belt drive.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 911 – velos de polegia in a Galician document, after Steiger.^[2]
• 1302 – the Ordenamiento portuario de Sevilla, the first record in the CDH.^[11]
• 1434 – an inventory of Alcaraz, Corominas's first record.^[2][3]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia uses it of the pulleys at a masthead.^[11][2]
• 1512 – first record from the Americas, in Puerto Rico.^[18]
• 1519 – first record as a nautical term.^[2]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy proposes an Old English source, later abandoned.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pulley: a wheel with a grooved rim over which a rope or chain runs, used to move or lift heavy loads: Izaron los sacos al desván mediante una polea.^[8][9][1]
2. A metal wheel with a flat rim used in belt drives.^[8][9]
3. (nautical) A double block (motón) of two bodies, one continuing the other, whose sheaves lie in the same plane.^[8]

Word family

• poleame

Related words

• polo
• garrucha
• polipasto
• French poulie

Usage notes

Set phrases include polea fija, a pulley that stays in place, and polea combinada, one forming part of a system of pulleys.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 591
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. polea
4. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. polea
5. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. polea
6. ^ 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. 6, 648
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. poulie
8. ^ a b c d e f 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. polea
9. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. polea
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. polé
11. ^ 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. polea
12. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 398
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. 1220
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 311
15. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 845
16. ^ a b Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 303
17. ^ a b Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1344
18. ^ 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. polea