portero

Forms

portero m (plural porteros, feminine portera, feminine plural porteras)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish portero, inherited from Late Latin portārius (“doorkeeper”).^[2][1][3] The Latin word is formed from porta (“gate”) with the suffix -ārius; in Spanish terms it is puerta with the suffix -ero.^[1][4] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of that noun, with a first record in a charter of 1074.^[5][6]

The same Latin word is Portuguese porteiro, Galician porteiro, Catalan porter, French portier and Romanian portar.^[7][3] The Latin noun is probably the feminine of an old participle Proto-Indo-European *pr̥-to- (“crossed”), from *per- (“to pass through”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word to a charter of 1074 in Oelschläger's list of first records, and DEMel has an Aragonese document from Huesca of 1090–1094.^[5][9] In Old Spanish the portero was above all a royal officer who carried the king's orders and saw them carried out: the Cantar de mio Cid already sends el portero con ellos, the king's officer accompanying a party.^[10] Alfonso X's prose has both this officer and the keeper of a door (1254).^[11]

Semantic evolution

Berceo uses the word for a bailiff who presses for payment, and figuratively for calamities that come one after another.^[12] Nebrija gave Latin ianitor “doorkeeper of a house” as its equivalent, and Autoridades defined it as the person who keeps, shuts and opens the doors, quoting a law on the porters of the Royal Council.^[13][14] The Academy's dictionaries listed the palace and court offices of portero de damas, portero de estrados and portero de vara, a minor officer of justice.^[15] The edition of 1869 added the cleaning of the entrance hall to the porter's duties.^[16] The dictionary of 1899 recorded the adjective ladrillo portero, a brick not fired enough.^[17]

Today the word means the doorman or caretaker of a building and, in football and other sports, the goalkeeper; a portero automático is an entry phone.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 1074 – first record, in a charter.^[5][6]
• 1090–1094 – a document from Huesca.^[9]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has the king's portero.^[10]
• 1254 – Alfonso X's prose uses it for a doorkeeper.^[11]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija translates it ianitor.^[13]
• 1547 – first record in the Americas: a porter of the Audiencia of Mexico City.^[18]
• 1899 – the Academy records the adjective for an underfired brick.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. A doorman, porter or caretaker: a person who watches the door of a building or firm and may have other duties: El portero recoge los paquetes de los vecinos.^[2][1]
2. (sports) A goalkeeper.^[2][1]
3. (nightlife) A bouncer.^[1]

Adjective

1. Of a brick: not fired enough.^[2][19]

Word family

• portería

Related words

• puerta
• Portuguese porteiro
• Latin porta

Usage notes

Portero automático is the entry phone that opens the street door of a block of flats from inside each flat.^[2] As an adjective and noun of place, portero was formerly the demonym of Puerto de La Orotava in the Canaries, and Alemany gives it for the people of El Puerto de Santa María.^[20][21][22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. portero
3. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5164
4. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 561
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 681
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. puerta
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ 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. porta
9. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. portero
10. ^ a b Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1929), Vocabulario medieval castellano, Madrid: Librería y Casa Editorial Hernando, p. 338
11. ^ 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. portero
12. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 596
13. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 399
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 332
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 692
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 622
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 800
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. portero
19. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. portero
20. ^ Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. portero
21. ^ Maffiotte, Luis (1993), Los canarismos (manuscript c. 1887), ed. Lothar Siemens Hernández, Las Palmas: Instituto de Estudios Canarios, p. 106
22. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1356