The Bible in Spain. Volume 2 of 2

Demonio. Span. and Port. Demon, devil.

Denho. Gal. The devil; used familiarly, “the deuce.”

Desembarcar. Span. and Port. To disembark.

Desesperado. Span. and Port. Desperate; a desperado.

Deshonesto. Span. and Port. Not “dishonest,” but “immodest, lascivious.”

Despacho. Span. An office; a depôt. Used also of certain shops, such as the bakers, tobacco-sellers, and others.

Despoblado. Span. Desert, or waste lands. Lit. depopulated; the true history is seen in the etymology. The word is applied to uncultivated desert, or uninhabited parts of the country, grazed for the most part by half wild sheep or cattle.

Despues. Span. Afterwards. Hasta despues, “Au revoir.”

Detras. Span. Behind. See Tirar.

Diestro. Span. Skilful, dexterous; as a substantive, a performer at a bull-feast, also a fencer.

Dios. Span. God.

Disparate. Span. and Port. A blunder, or extravagance. As an interjection, “Stuff and nonsense!”

Djmah. The name of a tower in Tangier. Apparently the Arab. Jami’ = mosque.

Doiro. Port. Of gold, de oiro or ouro.

Don, Doña. Span. Dom, Dona. Port. Lord; lady.

Donostian. Basque. San Sebastian.

Dorso. Span. and Port. The back.

Dosta. Rom. Enough! Span. basta! P. ii. 308; M. vii. 45.

Doubloon. Eng. A gold coin. Span. doblon. See Burke’s Hist. of Spain, ii. 284.

Drao. Rom. Poison. P. ii. 316; Pp. 215; M. vii. 45.

Dromális. Rom. Carriers, muleteers, men of the road. P. ii. 319. See Drun.

Drun, Drom. Rom. A road. Grk. δρόμος. P. ii. 318; Pp. 215; M. vii. 46.

Drungruje, better Drongrugi or Drunji. Rom. The king’s highway; also a bridle-path. See Drun.

Duende. Span. and Port. A ghost, or hobgoblin. In Germanía, or thieves’ slang = the watch, patrol.

Duffel. O. Eng. A coarse woollen cloth, said to have been first made at Duffel, near Amsterdam.

Durotunó. A shepherd. Probably connected with dur = far, P. ii. 317; M. vii. 48. It is worth noticing that we find Gorotuné = a native of Estremadura, which looks like a pun, P. i. 54, so too J., who has also oroturné = a mountaineer, which suits the idea.

Dwag. See Dar.

E, Es. Rom. Genitive, sing. and plur., of the article O.

E. Port. And.

Eidri. See Shillam.

Ellegren. Stated by Borrow to be a Scand. word, meaning “elfin plant,” but the dictionaries do not give it. Elle, however, in composition = fairy, in Danish; and gren = bough, in Danish, Norse, and Swedish.

Embéo. Rom. A book. P. ii. 62.

Embustero. Span. Impostor, cheat, schemer; from embuste, a deceit, false or fraudulent scheme, snare.

Encina. Span. An oak.

Endemoniado. Span. Possessed by the devil.

Enganchar. Span. To enlist as a soldier. Prim. to hook; gancho, a hook.

Ensayo. Span. An essay, attempt.

Entender. Span. To understand.

Entero. Span. An entire horse, or stallion. As an adjective, entire, perfect, complete.

Errate. Rom. A respectful appellation of the gypsy race, used by them of their own race. From Rom. rat, blood; the people of the same blood; our blood relations. P. ii. 272; Pp. 457; M. viii. 56.

Erray. Rom. Gentleman. More commonly, rai; in Eng. Rom., rye. P. ii. 264; Pp. 453; M. viii. 54.

Erreguiña. Basque. Queen. Borrow is mistaken in connecting this word with Sanscrit. It is simply the Lat. regina.

Erudito. Span. and Port. Learned.

Escapado. Span. and Port. Escaped, a runaway.

Esclivitud. Span. Slavery.

Escocés. Span. Scotch.

Escondido. Span. and Port. Adj. hidden.

Escopeta. Span. and Port. A gun.

Escribano. Span. A notary, or his clerk. Lit. a writer.

Escuchar. Span. To listen. Escuchad! “Listen!”

Escuela. Span. A school.

Eso. Span. That. Que es eso? “What’s that?”

España. Span. Spain. See i. 341.

Español. Spanish.

Espinal, Espinar. Span. A thorny thicket; place of thorns.

Espingarda. Span. and Port. A musket.

Espinheiro. Port. A thorn-tree.

Estadea. Port. Estadaiña. Gal. Dimin. Estadinha. (1) A skeleton, or death’s-head; a nocturnal procession of the spirits of the dead. (2) A witches’ “sabbath;” for which last the Galician compaña is also used.

Estalagem. Port. An inn.

Estar. Span. and Port. To be.

Estaripel. Rom. A prison. P. ii. 246; Pp. 146. SC. 141.

Estrangero. Span. Strange, foreign.

Estremou. Rom. Estremeño. Span. An inhabitant of the province of Estremadura.

Euscarra. Basque. Used by Borrow (ch. xxxvii.) for the Basque name of their own tongue; more commonly, Escualdun, Escualdunac; a word in any case of very uncertain origin. See Burke’s Hist. of Spain, vol. i. App. I., The Basques.

Exemplo. Span. and Port. Example, pattern. Por exemplo, for instance.

Extenderse. Span. To extend, stretch.

Fabrica. Span. and Port. Manufactory.

Faccioso. Span. As an adjective, factious; more often used by Borrow as a substantive, with the special signification, in the years 1830–1840, of a disaffected or factious person; a rebel; a Carlist.

Fáilte. Irish. Welcomes.

Faja, Faxa. Span. and Port. A thick waist-band, usually of silk, often red, and a characteristic portion of the dress of a great majority of Spaniards. The Indian kamarband. From the Lat. fascia, a girth, or band.

Fango. Span. Mire, mud.

Farol. Span. and Port. Strictly speaking, a lantern; used by Borrow for Faro, a lighthouse. They are, of course, equally the ancient Grk. φάρος.

Fato. Port. A herd; a multitude. Span. hato.

Felouk, Feloque. Eng. A boat, felucca. Arab. faluka, falak = ship.

Ferioul. Arab. A sort of shawl thrown over the shoulders. Arab. farwāl.

Fidalgo. Port. A gentleman. The Spanish hidalgo = filius alicujus, the son of some one.

Filimicha. Rom. The gallows. Found in Borrow, and J.; Pott, ii. 394, simply quotes it from the former.

Fino. Span. and Port. Fine, excellent, sharp.

Fonda. Span. Hotel. According to Diez, from Latin funda, a sling, or a purse, which has also given the French bourse and Spanish bolsa, an assembly of paying persons. See Posada.

Fora. Port. and Gal. Outside, without.

Foro, Foros. Rom. City, or town. P. ii. 393; Pp. 234; M. vii. 53.

Forte. Port. Strong.

Fregona. Span. A scullery maid.

Friolera. Span. A trifle. Lat. futilitas.

Fuente. Span. A fount, spring.

Fueron. Span. They were. From ser.

Fueros. Span. Local privileges.

Funcion. Span. A solemnity; festival; public assemblage of people to do or see some important act. In military language, an action; then colloquially, “a row.” The barbarous English adaptation, function, is convenient, and is rapidly gaining ground.

Gabardine. O. Eng. A long coat, or cloak, usually applied to the distinctive dress worn by the Jews under compulsion. Said to be from the Spanish and Old French gaban, a great coarse cloak with a hood, a word itself supposed to be connected with capa.

Gabicote. Rom. Book. Borrow seems the only authority for this word. J. has gascote. P. ii. 145.

Gabiné. Rom. A Frenchman. P. i. 54, ii. 145.

Gachapla. Rom. A couplet, in poetry. Span. copla. P. ii. 41.

Gachó. Rom. Any one who is not a gypsy; the same as Rom. busnó. P. ii. 129; Pp. 235; M. vii. 53; McR. 93.

Galera. Span. A long cart without springs; the sides are lined with matting, while beneath hangs a loose open net, as under the calesinas of Naples, in which lies and barks a horrid dog, who keeps a cerberus watch over iron pots and sieves, and suchlike gypsy utensils, and who is never to be conciliated. – Ford’s Spain, Introd. p. 37.

Gallego. Span. and Port. Galician; usually Anglicized by Borrow as Gallegan. The Roman Gallaeci or Callaeci.

Gallineria. Span. A hen-coop; a place for keeping gallinas, or chickens.

Galoot (Galūth). Hebr. Bondage, captivity. “The galoot of sin.” In the slang of the United States the word means “a simpleton.”

Garbanzos. Span. Chick-pease (Cicer arietinum). The invariable vegetable in every olla and puchero.

Garlochin. Rom. Heart. See Carlo.

Garnata. Arab. Granada. See Melegrana.

Garrote. Span. and Port. The death penalty by strangulation, in which an iron collar fixed to a post is tightened by a screw and receives the neck of the culprit, which is broken by a sharp turn given by the executioner. Garrote also means a cudgel, or heavy walking-stick; and the tourniquet used by surgeons. It is a word of strange and uncertain etymology, and is said to be connected with Span. garra, a claw, Fr. jarret, a thigh, and other apparently incongruous words.

Gazpacho. A dish in the nature of a vegetable salad very popular in Spain, made of bread, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, garbanzos or chick-peas, with oil and seasoning of various kinds. The etymology is uncertain.

Gefatura. Span. Office of the following.

Gefe. Span. Chief. Gefe politico = corregidor, q. v.

Gelaba. Arab. A long cloak. Arab. jilbāb.

Genio. Span. and Port. Genius; spirit.

Genoui, dimin. Genouillos. Moor. A Genoese, Genoese children.

Gente, Jente. Span. and Port. People.

Germanía. Span. According to the dictionaries, the dialect or mode of speech used by gypsies, thieves, and ruffians, to prevent their being understood, in which they give special meanings to ordinary words (e.g. aguila, eagle = a clever thief), or invent words of their own (e.g. almifor = horse). No doubt Germanía contains gypsy words, but it is no more identical with Romany than are the Fr. Argot or the Eng. Cant. See Z. ii. 129.

Gibil. Arab. A hill.

Ginete. Span. A good horseman. À la gineta, in the Moorish style (of riding). Diez, strangely enough, would derive this Arab or Moorish word from the Grk. μυμνήτης, a naked or light-armed foot soldier. It is really derived from the proper name Zeneta, a Berber tribe who furnished the finest horsemen to the Spanish Moors (Cron. Alfonso X., fo. 6 d, an. 1263). In Catalan the word has become janetz. Our English word “jennet” may be derived from the same source.

Girar. Span. and Port. To turn round.

Gitana. Thieves’ slang. Twelve ounces of bread. See i. 177.

Gitano. Span. A gypsy. A corrupted form of Egiptiano, an Egyptian. R. 269; McR. 109. See Zincalo.

Godo. Span. and Port. A Goth; Gothic.

Goh. Pers. Mountain. More correctly, koh.

Gonfaloniera. Ital. Standard-bearer.

Grā, Gras, Graste, Gry. Rom. A horse. P. ii. 145; A. 33; Pp. 249; M. vii. 58.

Gracia. Span. Gratia. Lat. Grace.

Granja. Span. A grange, farm. La Granja, the royal palace at San Ildefonso.

Greco. Ital. Griego. Span. Greek.

Guapo, Guapito. Span. and Port. Gay, neat, clever, elegant, gallant.

Guardacostas. Span. A revenue cutter.

Guardia. Span. A guard, watch.

Guerilla. Span. Lit. little war. Irregular warfare to which the Spaniards have ever been so much addicted. The guerrillero is the irregular soldier, or armed paisano, who wages this little war.

Guerra. Span. War.

Guissan. Basque. According to. It is an adaptation of the Fr. guise, Span. guisa. The regular Basque words are arabera, araura. Aizquibel, Basque-Spanish Dict., gives the form gisara.

Gurséan. Moor. The giant aloe. Span. pita. Apud Borrow, ii. 276.

Gusto. Span. (1) Taste, lit. or fig. (2) Fancy, caprice, wish.

Haber. Span. To have. Hay, there are. No hay mas? Are there no more?

Habla. Span. Speech.

Hablar. Span. To speak. Lat. fabulare.

Hacer. Span. To do, make. El hará el gusto por V, He will do what you want.

Hada, Hade. Arab. This.

Haik. Arab. A white cloth worn over the head by the Moors.

Haimas. Arab. Tents. More correctly, ḥaimat, plur. ḥiyām.

Haji. Arab., Turk., and Grk. One who having made the haj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca, is entitled to wear a green turban and assume the title of haji. But the same title, strange to say, is assumed by orthodox Christians who have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; and Haji Yanco is quite as common a title or mode of address in the Levant as Haji Ibrahím.

Halal. Arab. Lawful.

Haloof. Berber. Hog’s flesh. More correctly, ḥalluf.

Hamal. Arab. Porter, carrier. More correctly, ḥammāl.

Hanutz. Arab. Shop. More correctly, ḥanūt.

Harām. Arab. and Hebr. Forbidden. Akin to this is harem.

Hasta. Span. Until. See Despues.

Hato. Span. A herd, a multitude. Port. fato.

Hax Weib, Hax. Germ. A witch. A wrong form of Hexe Weib or Hexe, a witch, or female wizard.

Hayim. Hebr. Living. More correctly, hayyim.

Heller. Germ. A copper coin in use in Germany previous to 1848; in value about one farthing.

Herencia. Span. Heritage, inheritance.

Herrador. Span. A blacksmith.

Hidalgo. Span. See Fidalgo.

Higuera. Span. A fig-tree.

Hijo. Span. A son. Lat. filius.

Hinai. Arab. Here.

Hok. Rom. Deceit, falsehood, fraud. Hokka, to lie; hokkawar, to cheat. Hokkano, in Eng. Rom., a lie. P. ii. 160; A. 37; Pp. 317; M. vii. 63. Hokkano baro, the great trick. See Z. i. 310; LL. 244; Lel. 352; Gr. 357.

Hombre. Span. Homme. Fr. A man

Horca. Span. The gallows.

Horno. Span. Oven.

Houris. Arab. The women of the Moslem Paradise. Plural of the Arab, ḥawrá = black-eyed.

Hsheesh. Arab. I.e. ḥashish, a preparation of hemp.

Huáje. Arab. Things. Huáje del Mselmeen, more correctly, ḥawāij el Muslimīn, things of the Moslems.

Hueso. Span. A bone.

Hundunar, Jundunar. Rom. A soldier. P. ii. 172; R. 294. J. gives jundo, jundonal.

Ichasoa. Basque. The sea. The verse quoted by Borrow (ii. 118) more accurately runs thus —

“Ichasoa urac handi.(The iea – the water – large)Eztu ondoric aguerri —(There is not – any bottom – manifest)Pasaco ninsaqueni andic(To pass – I could be able – thence)Maitea icustea gatic.”

(The beloved – the seeing, i. e. to see – for).

Infamia. Span. and Port. Infamy.

Infante. Span. and Port. Prince.

Inglaterra. Span. England.

Ingles. Span. English. Inglesito! “My little Englishman!”

Inquisicion. Span. The Inquisition.

Inshallah. Arab. Please God!

Instancia. Span. and Port. Instance, prosecution. See note, ii. 141.

Jabador. Apparently a Hispanized form of the African Arabic jabdali = a gold-embroidered waistcoat.

Jaca, or Haca. Span. A pony, or small riding horse.

Jara Canallis. Rom. The only authority I have succeeded in finding for this word is Z. ii. * 61. “Jaracañales, guards, officers of the revenue.” It may possibly be derived from the Bohemian gypsy xáro, Hungarian háro = sabre, and the Span. canalla, but I have no reason to suppose that the word xáro or háro was known to the gypsies of Spain.

Jargon. Eng. Originally a Fr. word, meaning any unintelligible sound, as that of birds, then applied to the strange speech of the Gueux; and so to any unknown tongue. Borrow himself says of the gypsies, “when wishing to praise the proficiency of any individual in their tongue, they are in the habit of saying, ‘He understands the seven jargons’” (Z. ii. 125). Frampton Boswell is recorded (G. i. 374) to have stated that Romany was not one of “the seven languages,” “but,” adds Mr. Hinde Groome, “what he meant thereby, goodness alone knows.” The historian Mazaris (a. d. 1416) states that at that time the Peloponnesus was inhabited by seven principal nations, one of which was that of the Egyptians. These “Egyptians” are held by M. Bataillard to have been gypsies (ib. iii. 154), and I would suggest that we have here the origin of “the seven jargons.” The number seven seems to be in a special way connected with the children of Roma. For other instances see Leland, English Gypsies, p. 218; Gr. 171.

Jaun, Jauna. Basque. Lord, the lord.

Jaungvicoa. Basque. The Lord God. Jaun = man, sir, lord; Gincoa or Jincoa = God.

Jehinnim. Arab. and Hebr. Hell.

Jennut. Arab. Paradise. Usually written, jannat.

Jente. Span. See Gente.

Jin. Arab. In classic English, genie (Arabic and Persian jinn), a class of spirits lower than the angels.

Johár. Arab. A pearl.

Jojabar, Jonjabar. Rom. To deceive. From jojána, deceit. See Hok.

Jorge, dimin. Jorgito. Span. George.

Jorobado. Span. A hunchback. The verb jorobar means “to worry.”

Juez. Span. A judge.

Jumal. Arab. Friday. More correctly, jum‘a.

Junta. Span. and Port. An assembly, meeting, council, governing body.

Juntunó. Rom. A listener, spy, sneak. From junar, junelar, to listen. P. ii. 221; Pp. 497; M. viii. 75.

Justicia. Span. A legal tribunal, or the magistrate or magistrates who constitute it. Absol, justice.

Kafir. Arab. Not a Moslem.

Kandrisa. According to Borrow, Turkish trousers. Possibly the same as the African Arabic ḳan dūra = long shirt, toga talaris.

Kapul Udbagh. According to Borrow = “There is no God but one.”

Kauk. Hebr. The furred cap of Jerusalem, according to Borrow. We may perhaps compare ḳūḳa, stated by Redhouse in his Turkish Diet, to be a peculiar plumed head-dress worn by field-officers of the Janissaries.

Kawar. Arab. An uncommon word, meaning, no doubt, a cemetery, being a corrupt form of ḳabr, a tomb.

Kebir. Arab. Great.

Ker, Quer. Rom. A house. P. ii. 153; Pp. 279; M. vii. 79; G. i. 178.

Kermous del Inde. Arab. A fruit; the prickly pear.

Kistur, Kester. Rom. To ride. P. ii. 122; SC. refer to uklistó, Pp. 560; A. 14; M. viii. 89. Borrow derives it from the Wallachian keleri. Perhaps from the Grk. κέλης.

Kjæmpe. Scand. A champion. Cf. “Kempion the kingis son” in the ballad that bears his name.

Knaw. Rom. Now. P. ii. 124; Pp. 130; M. vii. 5.

Kosko, Kooshto. Rom. Good. P. ii. 157. This is an Eng. Rom. word. Continental gypsies use latchó, mishtó.

Kyrie. Grk. Κύριε, sir, my lord.

Labrador. Span. Cultivator, rustic, peasant. Labrar, to till the ground.

Lácha. Rom. Maidenhead, virginity. Z. ii. 7; P. ii. 331; Pp. 325; M. viii. 4.

Lachipé. Rom. Silk. I cannot explain this word, unless it is connected with the following.

Lachó, fem. Lachí. Rom. Good. P. ii. 329; A. 49; Pp. 328; M. viii. 4.

Ladrões. Port. Plur. of ladrão, a thief. Lat. latro.

Laloré. Rom. The Portuguese. Laloró, the red land. Eng. Rom. Lotto (cf. Jackanapes, p. 28). P. i. 54, ii. 338; Pp. 328, 339; M. viii. 8.

Lapurrac. Basque. The thieves.

Largo. Port. A square, or public place in a town.

Lectura. Span. Reading.

Len. Rom. A river. Len baro, the great river; Wady al Kebir, the Guadalquivir. P. ii. 336; Pp. 333; M. viii. 6.

Levantarse. Span. and Port. To raise one’s self, rise.

Le. Span. To him.

Li, Lil. Rom. Paper; a letter, passport, book. P. ii. 329, 339; A. 48; Pp. 334; M. viii. 7.

Lib. Hebr. Heart. More correctly, leb.

Liceo. Span. School, college.

Lilipendi. Rom. A simpleton. Akin to Liló, q. v.

Liló, fem. Lilí. Rom. Foolish, mad. P. ii. 340.

Limosna, dimin. Limosnita. Span. Alms, charity.

Lindo. Span. and Port. Beautiful, pretty.

Liri. Rom. Law. P. ii. 340.

Llavero. Span. Turnkey.

Loco. Span. Mad.

Lombo. Port. Loin.

Londoné. Rom. An Englishman; lit. a Londoner. So B., but it is probably plural. P. i. 54.

Longanizero. Span. Sausage-maker.

Lontra. Port. Otter. Span. nutria. “L” for “N” is characteristic.

Loor. Old Span. Praise.

Lume. Port. Light.

Lumia. Rom. A harlot. P. ii. 334; Pp. 342; M. viii. 9; G. i. 178.

Ma. Arab. Not.

Macho, Macha. Span. A mule, male or female. Considering that, even in Spanish, macho did, and does, signify a male animal of any kind – being an abbreviation of the Latin masculus—macha, a she-mule, is rather a strange word!

Madrilati. Rom. Madrid. Also Adalí, J. In thieves’ slang also Gao (= gav, a town), Z. ii. * 54. But H. gives gao = piojo (a louse).

Maha. Sanscr. Great. Persian mih.

Mahasni, plur. Makhasniah. Arab. Soldiers. More correctly, men of the garrison; defenders.

Mai. Port. Mother.

Mailla. Rom. A she-ass. P. ii. 454. Apparently only found in Eng. Romany.

Majaró. Rom. Holy. P. ii. 462.

Majo, Maja. Dandy; fancy man or girl. Majo, scarcely to be rendered in any foreign language, is a word of more general signification than manolo, q.v. The one is a dandy, or smart fellow, all over Spain; the other is used only of a certain class in Madrid.

Majoon. I cannot find this word, but it is apparently the name of some intoxicating substance, and is probably connected with the Arabic majnūn = possessed by a jinn, mad.

Makhiah. Arab. Brandy made of figs. More correctly, ma’iyya.

Malo. Span. Bad, wicked.

Malvado. Span. and Port. Malicious, evil disposed.