raer

Forms

raer (first-person singular present raigo or rayo, first-person singular preterite raí, past participle raído)^[1] The Cantar de mio Cid has only the preterite raxo, remade from the regular raso on the model of fuxo, dixo and troxo;^[2] Berceo has the weak preterite radió.^[2] The first person present is raigo or rayo and the subjunctive raiga or raya;^[3][1] Moliner prefers raigo, and notes that these forms are generally avoided.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rādō (“to shave; to scrape, polish, plane”).^[2][4][5][1] The same verb is Catalan raure, Italian radere, Romanian rade, Old French rere, Old Occitan raire and rer.^[6][7] Forms of the north are Asturian rair, in Asturias and Burgos, and Aragonese rader, in Navarre and Aragon.^[6][7]

The Latin verb goes back to *rasd-e/o-; its cognates are Celtic, Welsh rhathu and Breton rahein “to scrape, shave”, from *rasd-e/o- (“to scrape, scratch”).^[8][1]

raso continues the past participle rāsus, and rasero the Vulgar Latin noun *rāsōrium.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140) is the first record, with the preterite raxo in line 3655 in the sense “grazed, passed close by”.^[2][4] Berceo uses the basic sense “to scrape”, and the Libro de Apolonio (c. 1240) has the participle raído for “bald”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose uses it for scraping off hair and, figuratively, for wiping out: rayamos le de la tierra delos uiuos, “let us cut him off from the land of the living”.^[9] Juan Manuel uses it for “to erase”.^[2] By the classical period most senses were going out of use: Covarrubias and Autoridades record only “to scrape the surface”, the only sense in the Quijote.^[2][10] Covarrubias also has raído for “shameless”, and Autoridades the phrase raer de la memoria “to forget”, after Nebrija.^[10][11] The Academy's 1843 edition adds “to level with the strickle” and the figurative “to root out a vice”.^[12]

Today the verb is rare in speech outside the dialects and some technical uses, while derivatives such as raído “threadbare” are still common.^[2][1] In León it means to give a dry measure level, and to cut all the shoots of a vine.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has the preterite raxo.^[2][4]
• 13th century – Berceo uses the weak preterite radió.^[2]
• c. 1240 – raído “bald” in the Libro de Apolonio.^[2]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for scraping off hair.^[9]
• 1280 – the General Estoria uses it for “to wipe out”.^[9]
• 1335 – first record of raso.^[4]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin rado and deleo for it; first records of raedera and raedizo.^[14][4]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it as scraping the surface of something.^[10]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary adds “to level a measure” and “to root out”.^[12]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology “Del lat. radĕre”.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To scrape a surface with a rough or sharp tool to remove hair, dirt, paint and the like: Hay que raer la pintura vieja antes de barnizar.^[5][1]
2. (transitive) To level a dry measure with the rasero.^[16][3]
3. (transitive) To eradicate, wipe out completely: raer el rencor del corazón.^[5][1][17]
4. (reflexive, dated) Of a garment: to wear thin with use.^[5]

Word family

• raído
• raedera
• raedizo
• raedura
• raíble

Related words

• rascar
• rasero
• raso
• rasura
• arrasar
• Latin rādō
• Catalan raure

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 g h i j k Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 748
3. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. raer
4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. raer
5. ^ a b c d 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. raer
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. radere
7. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 5390
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c 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. raer
10. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1244
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. raer
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 607
13. ^ 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. raer
14. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 405
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 839
16. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. raer
17. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. raer