rodeo

Forms

rodeo m (plural rodeos)^[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Spanish rodear (“to go round, surround”) + -o.^[2][3][4][5] The verb is in turn from Spanish rueda (“wheel”), with the suffix -ear, and the noun continues Latin rota (“wheel”).^[6][1][7] Corominas lists both words among the derivatives of the noun, and dates the noun (1220–1250) earlier than the verb (1335).^[5][7]

The Latin word is the feminine of an old adjective meaning “revolving”, from Proto-Indo-European *Hrot-o-; Lithuanian rãtas (“wheel”) and Old High German rad (“wheel”) are cognates.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEMel's first record is a Navarrese document of 1224.^[9] In Berceo's Duelo de la Virgen (1236–1246, known from an 18th-century copy) it means a long, roundabout argument: Fraire, non contendamos en tan luengo rodeo “brother, let us not argue at such great length”.^[10][9][7]

Semantic evolution

In Don Juan Manuel's Libro de la caza (1337–1348) the word describes the circling flight of a bird, and c. 1400 a Bible translation uses it for the circuit round a building.^[10] Nebrija renders it with Latin lustratio and ambitus, and Covarrubias defines it as “the road that does not go straight”.^[11][12] Autoridades adds the figurative senses “delay” and “evasion, pretext”, and the place at fairs where cattle were gathered for sale.^[13] In thieves' slang it meant a gang of thieves or pimps, a sense recorded by Hidalgo in 1609, by Terreros and by the Academy.^[14][15][16] A phrase sin ningún rodeo “without deceit” is found in the 16th century.^[7]

The cattle senses grew in the Americas: Salvá recorded in 1846 an American sense, the rounding up of the range cattle, and in the Río de la Plata rodeo is the gathering of the herd to count, sort or mark it, and the place where it is held.^[17][7][18] From there it became the name of a contest of riding and roping, which in Chile is a sport in which two riders pin a running steer.^[19][18] English took the word from Spanish, first for a cattle round-up (1834).^[20] From 1913 it has also named the riding show in English.^[20]

Timeline

• 1224 – first record, in a Navarrese document.^[9]
• 1236–1246 – Berceo's Duelo de la Virgen (in an 18th-century copy) uses luengo rodeo of a long argument.^[10]
• 1337–1348 – Don Juan Manuel's Libro de la caza uses it of a bird's circling flight.^[10]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin lustratio and ambitus.^[21][11]
• 1513 – first record in the Americas, in Puerto Rico, in a list of goods.^[22]
• 1609 – Hidalgo's thieves' vocabulary has the sense “gang of thieves or pimps”.^[14]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it as the road that does not go straight.^[12]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades adds the senses “delay”, “pretext” and the cattle enclosure at fairs.^[13]
• 1834 – English rodeo “cattle round-up”.^[20]
• 1843 – the Academy adds the counting of livestock.^[16]
• 1846 – Salvá records the American sense of rounding up the range cattle.^[17]
• 1869 – the Academy adds the place in a pasture where cattle gather for the night.^[23]
• 1913 – English rodeo for a public show of riding skill.^[20]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of going round or surrounding something.^[19]
2. A detour: a longer way than the direct road: Dimos un rodeo por el puerto para no cruzar el centro.^[19][1]
3. A turn or dodge made to escape a pursuer.^[19][24]
4. An indirect way of doing something, to get round its difficulties.^[19]
5. A circumlocution: a way of saying something only indirectly, often in the plural: Dímelo sin rodeos.^[19][1]
6. An evasion or pretext used to hide the truth or avoid a question.^[19]
7. (Latin America) A rodeo: a sport of riding wild horses or steers bareback, roping and similar feats.^[19][18]
8. The place where cattle gather to rest, spend the night, or be counted or sold.^[19]
9. A roundup of cattle to inspect, count or mark them.^[19][18]
10. (Salamanca) The midday rest of cattle in the field.^[19]
11. (thieves' slang) A gang of thieves or pimps.^[19][14]

Word family

• rodeón

Related words

• rueda
• rodear
• rodar
• Latin rota
• English rodeo

Usage notes

Andarse con rodeos or dar rodeos means to beat about the bush, and sin rodeos “plainly, straight out”.^[24][1] In Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay parar rodeo is to gather the cattle of a paddock at the rodeo ground.^[19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5745
3. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 617
4. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. rueda
6. ^ 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. rodear
7. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 83
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 Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. rodeo
10. ^ 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. rodeo
11. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 410
12. ^ 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. 1268
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 631
14. ^ a b c Hidalgo, Juan (1609), Romances de germanía de varios autores, con el vocabulario por la orden del a.b.c. para declaración de sus términos y lengua, Barcelona: Sebastián de Cormellas (ed. Madrid 1779), p. 197
15. ^ 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, 386
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 641
17. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 959
18. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. rodeo
19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. rodeo
20. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
21. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (c. 1495), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca (facsimile, Madrid: Real Academia Española 1951), p. 185
22. ^ 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. rodeo
23. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 686
24. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. rodeo