poroso

Forms

poroso (feminine porosa, masculine plural porosos, feminine plural porosas)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish poro + -oso.^[1][2][3] Corominas lists it as a derivative of poro.^[4][5] Echegaray gave a Latin source instead, Medieval Latin porōsus, which Wiktionary explains as porus with -ōsus;^[6][1][7] Terreros had called the Latin word a barbarism.^[6][1][7]

Similar adjectives are Catalan porós, French poreux and Italian poroso.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alfonso X's Lapidario (1250–1279) says of a stone that one finds it rough and light por que es muy porosa “because it is very porous”.^[8][9] Corominas's first record is from Gabriel Alonso de Herrera in 1513.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Covarrubias defined it as anything with holes through which liquid seeps, like tufa stone.^[10] Autoridades quoted Herrera's advice to guard fermenting wine from heat, cold and bad air, because it is then mui poroso and prone to spoil.^[11] The meaning has stayed “having pores” ever since.^[12][13] In rural Honduras it is said of a thing that breaks or crumbles easily.^[14]

Timeline

• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario calls a stone muy porosa.^[8]
• 1513 – Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, Corominas's first record.^[4][5]
• 1583 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico City, of thin and porous blood.^[15]
• 1611 – Covarrubias compares it to tufa.^[10]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades quotes Herrera on wine.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. porous; having pores: Este ladrillo es muy poroso y absorbe el agua.^[12][1][13]
2. (Honduras, rural) Of a thing: easily broken or crumbled.^[14]

Word family

• porosidad

Related words

• Latin porus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
3. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 615
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. poro
6. ^ a b c Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto
7. ^ a b 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. 3, 182
8. ^ a b 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. poroso
9. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock
10. ^ 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. 1223
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 327
12. ^ a b 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. poroso
13. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos
14. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer
15. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies