varón

Forms

varón m (plural varones)^[1] Old Spanish wrote both varon and baron in every sense; the spelling with ⟨v⟩ for “male” became general only from Nebrija on.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish varon, inherited from Late Latin baro (“man; free man”), and is in origin the same word as barón.^[2][3][1] The DCECH and the BDELC take the Late Latin word probably from a Germanic word for “free man fit for fighting”, related to Old Norse berjask (“to fight”).^[2][3] Wiktionary gives that word as Proto-West Germanic *barō.^[1] On entering Latin it merged with a native word for “blockhead”, and Isidore gives it the sense “mercenary soldier”.^[2] Coromines describes the Romance word as a fusion of the two.^[5] In Medieval Latin it meant “man”, “free man”, “vassal” and, in the plural, the great men of a realm.^[6]

The DCECH rejects a derivation from Latin vir (“man”), which explains neither the ⟨a⟩ nor the ending.^[2] It also rejects Latin varo, known only from a line of Lucilius and apparently meaning “bow-legged”; the DLE still gives that word, with the sense “strong”.^[2][7] The spelling with ⟨v⟩ is due to the influence of the Latin word for “man” among the humanists.^[3][8][9] Other Romance languages write the word with ⟨b⟩ even in the sense “male”: Catalan baró (in Llull), Old French baronil (“virile”) and Old Logudorese barone (“male”).^[2] Portuguese varão has been written with ⟨v⟩ since the Middle Ages.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, known from a 14th-century copy), when the Cid rides into Burgos: Exiénlo ver mugieres e varones “women and men come out to see him”.^[10][11] In the Cid it also means a citizen of a town council, as varones does in Latin charters of Castrojeriz of the 11th century.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Castilian there was no clear difference of spelling or meaning between varón and barón: barón meant “nobleman” from documents of the late 11th century, while the sense “male person” appears from the early 13th century, often written with ⟨b⟩ (mugeres e barones in Berceo).^[2][3] Alfonso X's prose has it for “grown man”, “man of standing” and in the phrase buen varón.^[12] The feminine varona “woman” is recorded about 1200, and varonil from about 1457.^[2] Barón as a title of nobility, borrowed from Catalan and French usage, dates from 1605.^[3]

The Diccionario de Autoridades distinguishes the grown man, “usually taken as from thirty to forty-five”, the man of respect or authority, and the title, for which it refers to barón.^[13] The Academy derived it from Latin vir in 1899; the DLE now gives Latin varo.^[14][7] The nautical sense, a rope or chain fixed to the rudder for steering when the tiller is lost, is in the Academy's dictionary of 1899.^[14][7] In Panama and Colombia varón is also a brave man, and in Puerto Rico a term of address among friends.^[15][16]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – first record, in the Cantar de mio Cid.^[10]
• c. 1200 – the feminine varona “woman”, in the Libre dels tres reys d'Orient.^[2]
• 1218–1250 – noble uaron in the Fuero de Zorita.^[10]
• 1270–1284 – the Estoria de España uses buen varón.^[12]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija writes varón, no hembra with ⟨v⟩.^[2]
• 1532 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico, spelt barón.^[17]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines the grown man as aged thirty to forty-five.^[13]
• 1899 – the Academy derives it from Latin vir.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A male person: Tuvieron tres hijas y un varón.^[7][1]
2. A grown man, one who has reached manhood.^[7][9]
3. A man of respect, authority or other qualities.^[7][12]
4. (nautical) Either of two ropes or chains fixed to the blade of the rudder and to each side of the ship, used for steering when the tiller fails.^[7]
5. (Panama, Colombia, colloquial) A brave man.^[15]

Word family

• varona
• varonil

Related words

• barón
• Portuguese varão
• Catalan baró

Usage notes

Santo varón is a man of great goodness, or a naive, easy-going one, and buen varón a sensible, learned and experienced man, as in a juicio de buen varón.^[7] Wikcionario has a separate varón “large stake or post”, an augmentative of vara.^[18] The DAMER records varón for a long, thick wooden beam in Mexico and for the largest roller of a sugar mill in Honduras and Nicaragua, and Malaret for a long, thick timber in Chile.^[15][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 514
3. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. barón
4. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. varón
5. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 1, 658
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. baro
7. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. varón
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. varón
9. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. varón
10. ^ 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. varón
11. ^ a b Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. varón
12. ^ 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. varón
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, s.v. varón
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 1005
15. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. varón
16. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. varón
17. ^ 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. varón
18. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. varón
19. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 810