pozal

Forms

pozal m (plural pozales)^[1]

Etymology

Corominas lists it among the derivatives of pozo “well”, formed from Spanish pozo + -al.^[2][3] García de Diego and Wiktionary instead derive it from Latin puteal (“well-curb”), which Wiktionary also analyses as the Spanish noun with the suffix.^[4][1] The Latin word is the neuter of an adjective meaning “of a well”, from puteus (“well”), and named the stone curb round a well's mouth.^[1][5] The Spanish noun itself continues the Latin one and is recorded from a charter of 938.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Berceo's Vida de San Millán (c. 1230, known from an 18th-century copy) each married householder of Melgar and Astudillo must give un pozal de vino “a bucket of wine”.^[6][7] A sale of 1233 lists uno pozal among casks and vats.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The pozal was at first a vessel, for water or for wine: Alfonso X explains an Arabic star name as meaning pozal, the well bucket.^[8] In the 14th century the Libro de los gatos uses it for the shaft by which one goes down into a well.^[2] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1737) gives the bucket and the well-curb,^[9] and the Academy added in 1817 the jar sunk in the ground to collect oil or wine in presses.^[10] In 1788 a Peruvian text names pozales among the buckets used to drain mines.^[11] In León it also names a wooden tub for wine, a wide-mouthed well and a large hollow in the ground.^[12]

Timeline

• 933–967 – pozales in Latin charters of San Millán and Santillana.^[13]
• c. 1230 – Berceo's Vida de San Millán has un pozal de vino.^[6]
• 1276 – Alfonso X's Libro de la ochava esfera glosses a star name as pozal.^[8]
• 14th century – the Libro de los gatos, Corominas's first record.^[2][3]
• 1737 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as the well bucket and the well-curb.^[9]
• 1817 – the Academy's dictionary adds the jar sunk in the ground in presses.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bucket for drawing water from a well: Bajó el pozal con la cuerda hasta el agua.^[14][1]
2. The curb or parapet round the mouth of a well (brocal).^[14][1]
3. A vessel sunk in the ground to collect liquids (pocillo).^[14][15]

Related words

• pozo
• poza
• Latin puteal
• Italian puteale

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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, 629
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pozo
4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5300
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. pozal
7. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 599
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. pozal
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 343
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 695
11. ^ 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. pozal
12. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. pozal
13. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. pozal
14. ^ a b c 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. pozal
15. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pozal