ferrar

Forms

ferrar (first-person singular present ferro, first-person singular preterite ferrei, past participle ferrado)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling ferar in the 15th century.^[2]

Etymology

Houaiss, the DLP and Silva Bastos take it as formed from Portuguese ferro (“iron”) + -ar.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary allows also a source in Late Latin ferrō (“to fit with iron”), and Vieira derived it from that verb.^[1][5] Meyer-Lübke reconstructed the Latin verb, beside the classical participle ferrātus (“bound or covered with iron”), from its Romance outcomes.^[6]

The same formation is Spanish herrar, Catalan ferrar, French ferrer and Italian ferrare.^[6][1] García de Diego adds Galician ferrar and Aragonese ferrar.^[6][7][1]

The noun is from Latin ferrum (“iron”).^[8][9] De Vaan considers the Latin word a loan from an unidentified source, possibly a Phoenician dialect, and compares the Semitic words for iron.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A cantiga uses the verb for shoeing horses: nen é ferrada nen é por ferrar “she is neither shod nor to be shod”, of an animal no man had seen bridled.^[10] Cunha dates the verb to the 13th century, Houaiss to the 14th.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) gives the main uses of the 18th century: to shoe a horse or mule, to fit something with an iron tip, to brand with a hot iron, and reflexive ferrar-se “to cling tightly; to grapple with”.^[11] Morais (1813) adds the branding of slaves and cattle, the nautical senses “to furl a sail” and “to cast anchor, to make port”, and the figurative ferrar o bordão “to settle down somewhere”.^[12] Figueiredo (1899) records the old sense “to put in irons” and the colloquial “to palm off, to deal (a blow)”.^[13]

Brazilian informal Portuguese uses it for leaving someone in a fix, and reflexive ferrar-se for getting into trouble; in football it means to tackle an opponent roughly.^[2][1] The south of Brazil has the phrases ferrar no sono “to fall fast asleep” and ferrar os dentes “to bite”.^[14]

Timeline

• 13th century – first record, according to Cunha.^[8]
• 14th century – Houaiss's first date, from Cunha's slips of medieval Portuguese.^[2]
• 15th century – the spelling ferar.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau lists shoeing, tipping with iron and branding.^[11]
• 1813 – Morais adds the nautical senses.^[12]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records ferrar “to put in irons” as old.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To fit or plate with iron.^[2][3]
2. To fit a staff or stick with an iron point.^[2]
3. To shoe a horse or other animal, to fit it with horseshoes: Levou a égua para ferrar.^[2][1]
4. To brand an animal with a hot iron; to mark a brand on it.^[2][14]
5. (historical) To put someone in irons or shackles.^[2][13]
6. To grip hard, seize;^[2][3] (reflexive, figurative) to cling stubbornly to an idea.^[2][3]
7. To drive in deeply;^[2] (reflexive) to sink in: the harpoon or a lance sinking into flesh.^[2]
8. To make water ferruginous.^[2][3]
9. (informal) To land a blow; to throw hard; to force something on someone.^[2][3]
10. (Brazil, informal) To leave someone in a fix;^[2][1] (reflexive) to get into trouble: Desta vez quem se ferrou foi ele.^[2][1]
11. (football) To tackle an opponent violently.^[2]
12. (nautical) To furl a sail or an awning; to cast anchor.^[2][1]

Word family

• ferrado
• ferrador
• ferradura
• desferrar

Related words

• ferreiro
• ferro
• ferrão
• aferrar
• Latin ferrum
• Spanish herrar

Usage notes

The phrase ferrar a dormir (in Brazil also ferrar no sono) means “to fall into a deep sleep”.^[2][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ferrar
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. ferrar
4. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. ferrar
5. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 643
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3256
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. *ferrare
8. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ferro
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. ferrar
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. ferrar
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 14
13. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 609
14. ^ a b c Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. ferrar