The Bible in Spain. Volume 2 of 2

Man. Rom. Me. P. i. 229; Pp. 66; M. xi. 22.

Manolo. Span. Manolo is a somewhat difficult word to translate. It is applied to the flash or fancy man and his manola in Madrid only; a class fond of pleasure, of fine clothes, of bull-fights, and of sunshine, with a code of honour of their own; men and women rather picturesque than exemplary, and eminently racy of the soil.

Manró. Rom. Bread or corn. Estremadura is thus called Chim del Manró, “The Land of Corn.” P. ii. 440; Pp. 350; M. viii. 12. Given as marron, G. i. 177.

Manta. Span. and Port. A woollen blanket. Á manta de Dios = copiously. The word has nothing to do with the national cloak of Spain, which is la capa.

Mantilla. Span. The characteristic headdress of Spanish ladies, of black silk or lace, drawn over the back of the head and shoulders. Dimin. of manta.

Mar. Span. and Port. Sea.

Maravedí. Span. A coin of various weights and values. See Burke’s History of Spain, ii. 282.

Marequita. Span. Dimin. of Maria.

Mariposa. Span. A butterfly; a night light.

Mas. Span. More.

Matador. Span. and Port. (1) A slayer, murderer. (2) The man who kills the bull. See note, i. 170.

Mato. Port. A forest; or more exactly, a wild country, full of bushes and thickets.

Maughrabie. Arab. A Borrovian adaptation of the Arabic Al Maghrib, the west, signifying Mauretania, or North-Western Africa.

Mayim. Hebr. Waters.

Mayor. Span. and Port. Greater.

Mayordomo. Span. and Port. House steward, or major-domo.

Mearrah. Hebr. and Arab. Cemetery. Lit. a cave. Hebr. m‘arah, Arab. maghārah.

Meclis, Meklis. Eng. Rom. Leave off! have done! “‘Meklis,’ said Mrs. Chikno, ‘pray drop all that, sister’” (The Romany Rye, ch. v.). P. ii. 112, 434; Pp. 369; M. viii. 19.

Medico. Span. and Port. A physician.

Meforshim. Hebr. The commentators. More correctly, m’fár’shim.

Meiga. Port. and Gal. A female sharper, fortune-teller, or sorceress. The adjective meigo, in Spanish mego, has the signification of gentle, kind, mild.

Melegrana. Rom. Granada. From the Ital. melagrana, a pomegranate; Span. granada. See note, 375.

Mendi. Basque. A mountain. See note to Ingles Mendi, ii. 314.

Mercado. Span. and Port. A market, or market-place.

Merced. Span. (1) Favour, grace, mercy. (2) A day labourer’s pay, or wages. (3) In combination, vuestra merced, your worship, your honour, etc.; written V. or Vd. and pronounced usted.

Mesuna. Rom. A wayside inn, or posada, q.v. P. ii. 43, 463.

Mezquita. Span. A mosque.

Míla. Irish. A thousand.

Milagro. Span. A miracle.

Min. Rom. My, mine. P. i. 237; Pp. 69; M. xi. 30.

Min. Arab. From.

Mirar. Span. To look.

Miseria. Span. and Port. Misery, wretchedness; also niggardliness, stinginess.

Moderado. Span. and Port. Moderate. The name assumed by the more royalist members of the Cristino party. See i. 180.

Modo. Span. and Port. (1) Measure; (2) courtesy, urbanity. V. no tiene modo, “You’ve got no manners.”

Moidore. O. Eng. Portuguese moeda d’ouro = golden money, was a gold piece of the value of about twenty-six shillings.

Mona. Span. and Port. A she-monkey.

Monró. Rom. A friend; in thieves’ slang, an adult. Z. ii. 149; P. ii. 453; M. viii. 18.

Montana. Span. A hill, mountain.

Monte. Span. and Port. A hill, mountain.

Montera. Span. A hunting-cap, a Montero cap.

Montero. Span. A hunter; originally, a mountaineer.

Moro. Span. Moorish.

Mostrador. Span. The counter, of a shop.

Mozo. Span. A youth, or lad; moza, a girl.

Mselmeen. Arab. Moslems. See Huáje.

Muchacho, Muchacha. Spn. Boy; girl.

Mucho. Span. Much.

Muger, Mujer. Span. Woman; wife.

Mujik, Muzhik. Russ. A peasant. It may be added that their popular song, “Come, let us cut the cabbage” (i. 175), is not, as might be supposed, an exhortation to horticultural pursuits. “To cut the cabbage” is a slang expression among the Slavs for killing a Turk, in allusion to the green turbans worn by the descendants of the prophet.

Muk. Rom. Let, allow. See Meclis.

Mundo. Span. and Port. World.

Mushee. Arab. I.e. ma = not, shee = thing.

Muy. Span. Very, much.

Nacional. Span. and Port. A Nationalist; a member of the National Guard.

Nada. Span. and Port. Nothing.

Nahi. Rom. Translated by Borrow, lost. If so, perhaps connected with najabar, to lose. P. ii. 324; Pp. 381; M. viii. 23. Possibly, however, it is only a negative = is not. P. i. 319; A. 70.

Nao. Port. Ship.

Narangero. Span. An orange-seller.

Nava. Span. A plain.

Ndui. Hebr. A kind of hell, or purgatory, according to Borrow, who puts the word into the mouth of his Lisbon Jews. It is, apparently, the Hebr. niddui = ban, excommunication.

Nefsky. Russ. Of the Neva.

Negro. Span. and Port. (1) Black; (2) a negro, or African; (3) the nickname given by the Basque Carlists to the Cristinos, or Constitutionalists, 1833–1839.

Nicabar. Rom. To take away, steal, destroy. P. ii. 326; Pp. 390; M. viii. 25.

Niri. Basque. My, mine.

Noche. Span. Night.

Nombre. Span. Name.

Novillo. Span. A young bull. See note, i. 361.

Novio. Span. Bridegroom, betrothed.

Nuar. Arab. Flowers. More correctly, nawār.

Nuestro. Span. Our.

Nuveiro. This word is neither Castilian, Galician, nor Portuguese; but is a made-up or fancy word, from the Portuguese nuvem, a cloud; a cloud man, or supernatural being.

O. Rom. The.

Ó. Span. Or.

Obispo. Span. Bishop.

Ojalateros. Span. “Waiters upon Providence.” A burlesque word. See note, i. 169.

Onza. Span. A coin of the value of about £3 6s. 8d.; lit. an ounce of gold. Also known as the doblon de à 8; Anglicized as “piece of eight.”

Oraçam, Oração. Port. A prayer.

Otro. Span. Other. No hay otro en el mundo, “There’s none like it in the world.”

Oulem. Hebr. Of the world. Arab. ‘olam.

Pachí. Rom. Modesty, honour, virginity. P. ii. 347.

Paciencia. Span. and Port. Patience.

Paço. Port. The Court.

Padre. Span. and Port. Father.

Padrino. Span. (1) Sponsor, godfather; (2) second – in a duel.

Padron. Span. Patron, landlord.

Pahan. Phœn. A rabbit.

Paisano. Span. and Port. A countryman; not a peasant, but a man of the same country as another; a compatriot. As the conventional answer to the challenge, “Quien vive?” by a Spanish sentry, it means “Civilian.”

Pajandi. Rom. A guitar. According to Borrow, lit. “the thing that is touched or played upon.” P. ii. 369, 426.

Pajaria. Span. Straw-market. The place where straw is kept is Pajar.

Pal. Rom. See Plan.

Palabra. Span. A word.

Palomar. Span. A dovecote.

Pan. Span. Bread.

Panhagia. Grk. Lit. All-holy. The Virgin Mary.

Paní. See Pawnee.

Pañuelo. Span. A handkerchief. Lit. a little cloth.

Papas. Grk. A priest (παπᾶς).

Para. Span. and Port. For.

Parnó. Rom. White. P. ii. 359; Pp. 410; M. viii. 32.

Parné. White, or silver money; thence, as in the case of Fr. argent, money in general. See Parnó.

Parra. Span. Festoons of vines; the trellis or stakes upon which these festoons are trained.

Parugar. Rom. To barter, swop, chaffer. P. ii. 354; Pp. 412; M. viii. 33.

Pasteleros. Span. Pastrycooks.

Pastesas. Rom. The hands. Ustilar á pastesas is to steal “with the hands,” or by any sleight of hand. Z. i. 315. The usual Span. gypsy word is ba, J.; bas, Z. i. 522. Both are doubtless variations of the more common vast. P. ii. 86; Pp. 573; M. viii. 94; SC. 151.

Pastor. Span. and Port. Shepherd.

Patio. Span. and Port. The court of a house; either the open space round which Spanish houses are so commonly built, or an open court in front of it.

Patron. See Padron.

Pawnee, Paní. Rom. Water. Hind. paní. The one special word known to all gypsies wherever found, even in Brazil. P. ii. 343; Pp. 405; M. viii. 31; G. i. 61.

Peluni. Arab. Of another. See ii. 313.

Penar, Penelar. Rom. To speak, say. P. ii. 386; Pp. 421; M. viii. 41.

Peña. Span. A rock.

Peptndorio. Rom. Antonio; proper name.

Perico. Span. A small parrot.

Pero. Span. But

Perro. Span. A dog.

Pesar. Span. and Port. To afflict, distress. Lit. to weigh. Me peso, “I’m very sorry.”

Peseta. Span. A Spanish coin, representing, down to 1870, two silver reals or four reals vellon, but since 1870 the standard or unit of value in Spanish finance, is nearly equal to the French franc, and, like it, divided for purposes of account, into 100 centimos.

Petulengro, Petalengro. Eng. Rom. A shoeing smith. See note on i. 204; P. ii. 348; Pp. 427; M. viii. 37; SC. 13, 121; and, generally, Lavengro and The Romany Rye.

Pfaffen. Germ. Monks; a contemptuous term for clerics generally, whether regular or secular.

Piazza. Ital. An open square in a town, surrounded by colonnades. In modern American parlance the word is often used for a veranda, in which sense Borrow apparently uses it, i. 276.

Picador. Span. and Port. A riding-master, bull-fighter. See note, i. 170, and Torero.

Picardia. Span. and Port. Knavishness; from picaro, a rogue, knave, or loafer. The English adjective picaresque is conventionally applied to a certain class of Spanish story of low life and sharp practice relieved by humour.

Pícaro. Span. and Port. Rogue, knave.

Picaron. Span. Augmentative (on) of pícaro, a great scamp.

Pica. Span. and Port. Peak, summit.

Pila. Span. A water-trough.

Pinar, Pinal. Span. Grove or wood of pine trees.

Pinró, Pindró, plur. Pindré. Rom. Foot; en pindré, on foot P. ii. 351; Pp. 433; M. viii. 47; A. 33.

Pio. Span. and Port. Pious.

Pirar, Pirelar. Rom. To go, walk. P. ii. 382; Pp. 436; M. viii. 42.

Pita. Span. The aloe (Agave americana).

Plulí. Rom. A widow. P. ii. 377; Pp. 439; M. viii. 43.

Plako or Placo. Rom. Tobacco. Russ. prâk = powder. P. ii. 361; Pp. 445; M. viii. 52. A gypsy model at Granada gave it as prajo in 1876, “L” and “R” being often interchanged by the peasants thereabouts. G. i. 177 and J. has polvo = praco.

Plan, Planoró, Plal. Rom. Brother, comrade. Eng. Rom. pal. P. ii. 383; A. 79; Pp. 445; M. viii. 43.

Playa. Span. The strand.

Plaza. Span. A square or open space in a town. Ital. piazza, q.v.

Plazuela. Span. Dimin. of Plaza.

Poblacion. Span. (1) Population; (2) act of populating; (3) a town.

Pobrecita. Span. “Poor thing!” Dimin. of pobre, poor.

Politico. Span. and Port. Political, civil. See note, ii. 127.

Polk. Russ. A regiment.

Poquito. Span. Dimin. of poco. Small, little.

Por. Span. and Port. For.

Porque. Span. and Port. Because.

Posada. Span. “A lodging; from posar, to sit down or lodge, hence lodging-house, tavern, or small hotel. The genuine Spanish town inn is called the posada, as being meant to mean a house of repose after the pains of travel. Strictly speaking, the keeper is only bound to provide lodging, salt, and the power of cooking whatever the traveller brings with him or can procure out-of-doors, and in this it differs from the fonda, in which meats and drinks are furnished.” – Ford, Gatherings from Spain, ch. xv.

Posadero. Span. Innkeeper.

Posta. Span. and Port. Post, post-house. Casa de las Postas, General Post-office.

Praça. Port. Square, place.

Prado. Span. and Port. A lawn or meadow. The great promenade at Madrid.

Praia. Gal. Seashore, strand.

Presidio. Span. and Port. Place of imprisonment, penitentiary; prim. a fortress, or the garrison thereof.

Prestar. Port. To be of use.

Primero. Span. First.

Principe. Span. and Port. Princeps. Lat. Prince.

Propina. Span. Lat. propinare. Drink-money; pour boire, a tip.

Puchera or Puchero. Span. A stew; prim. the pot in which the stew is made, which, as in the case of the olla, has come to signify the contents. The puchero is more used in the north, the olla in the south of the Peninsula. The combination olla podrida is now at least never heard in Spain.

Pueblo. Span. A small town, or village. El pueblo, the common people.

Puente. Span. A bridge.

Puerta. Span. Door, gate. Puerta del Sol, Gate of the Sun. The central point of Madrid.

Puerto. Span. A bay, or port; also a pass in the mountains.

Pulido. Span. Neat, delicate, charming.

Quatro. Span. and Port. Four.

Que. Span. and Port. What, that.

Quer. Rom. A house. See Ker.

Quien. Span. Who.

Quiero. Span. I wish.

Quinta. Span. and Port. A country house.

Rabbi. Hebr. Master.

Rainha. Port. Queen.

Rais. Arab. Chief; captain of a ship.

Rajil. Arab. Man.

Randado. Rom. Written. From randar, P. ii. 276.

Ratero. Span. Mean, scoundrelly.

Raya. Span. Border, boundary, or frontier.

Real. Span. and Port. Royal.

Real. Span. and Port. A coin or unit of value. The Spanish plural is reales; the Portuguese, reis or rees. The Spanish real is worth about 2½d. English; the Portuguese only 1/20d., one thousand reis making the Portuguese dollar, or piece of mil reis, hence called a milrei or milreis.

Regata. Span. A small channel, or, conduit.

Reja. Span. The iron grating before a window looking on to the street of a town. The recognized trysting-place of a lover and his mistress.

Relacion. Span. Relation, story.

Rematar. Span. and Port. To end, finish. Que Dios remate tu nombre! “May God blot out your name!”

Render. Span. and Port. To yield, surrender.

Repañi. Rom. Brandy. This word, given in 1876 (v. Plako), is derived by Pott from repañi (repañó, J.), a radish, the connexion being the sharp taste of both (ii. 274). Remembering the “fire-water” of the Indians, the aguardiente of Spain and Portugal, and the tattopani of the Eng. gypsies, I am tempted to suggest another explanation. J. gives ardiente = carí, and aguardiente = pañicarí. Now car (P. ii. 125) or jar (ib. 171) = heat. Change the order of the words and caripañi might shorten into repañí.

Repostero. Span. The butler, or majordomo, in a great house. The reposteria is the plate-room, storeroom, or pantry.

Reputacion. Span. Reputation. Gente de reputacion, “swells,” “swagger people.”

Requiso. Span. Requisitioning (from requerir). A technical word; the authority that requisitions private property, horses, etc., for the use of the national army in time of war.

Reyna. Span. Queen.

Ria. Span. and Port. An estuary, as the mouth of a river. More particularly applied to the numerous bays on the Galician and Asturian coasts of Northwest Spain.

Ro, Rom. Rom. A husband; a married gypsy. Roma, the husbands, is the generic name of the gypsy nation, or Romany. P. ii. 275; A. 56; Pp. 462; M. viii. 58; McR. 91.

Romero. Span. Rosemary.

Romi. Rom. A married gypsywoman; fem. of rom, a husband; a married gypsy.

Roque. Span. and Port. The “rook,” or “castle,” at chess. Pers. rukh. The same word is used for the fabulous bird of immense size so often mentioned in Oriental tales.

Rouble. Russ. A kind of Russian money, either silver or paper. Its present value is about two shillings.

Ruah. Arab, and Hebr. Spirit. Used throughout the Old Test, to denote the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.

Rufianesco. Span. Ruffian, criminal.

Rune. Eng. (1) A letter of the ancient Scandinavian alphabet, usually carved on stone. (2) A short mystic sentence of Scandinavian origin. Norse and Danish rune, Swed. runa.

Sabio. Span. and Port. Learned. King Alfonso X. was surnamed El Sabio, which is sometimes erroneously rendered “The Wise.” Sabio is, rather, “erudite;” and the king was undoubtedly the most learned man of his time, though his government was not always by any means wise.

Sacro. Span. and Port. Sacred.

Safacoro. Rom. The city of Seville. P. ii. 248. J. gives Sevillano = Safacorano.

Sagadua, Sagardua. Basque. Cider; i. e. the strong or Spanish cider, called in French Basque charnoa or sharnoa, as distinguished from the weak cider which is made from apples rotted in water. A probable etymology is sagar = apple; arno = wine.

Sagra. Span. The name of certain districts in Spain, especially of one lying north of Toledo. The word is probably derived from the Arab ṣaḥra = a plain. See note, i. 257.

Salamanquesa. Span. A salamander, or, star-lizard; otherwise called salamandra.

Sandia. Span. A water-melon.

Santiguo. Span. The action of crossing one’s self. Santiguar is “to make the sign of the cross.”

Santo. Span. and Port. Sainted, holy. La Santa Casa, the Inquisition.

Santon. Span. A great saint; more especially applied to Moslem recluses. Also, a hypocrite.

Santurron. Span. A great saint; usually, a great hypocrite.

Sardinha. Port. and Gal. A sardine. Borrow’s friends, la gente rufianesca, have a quaint name for a galley-slave, apaleador de sardinas, a sardine-beater. H. 155.

Sba. Arab. Morning. More correctly, ṣabāḥ.

Scharki. Arab. The East.

Scharr. See Daoud.

Schophon. Heb. Shâphân (שׁפן) A quadruped which chews the cud like a hare (Lev. xi. 5; Deut. xiv. 7); which lives gregariously on rocks, and is remarkable for its cunning (Ps. civ. 18; Prov. xxx. 26). The Rabbins render coney, or rabbit; more correctly the LXX. in three places χοιρογρύλλιος, i. e. an animal resembling the marmot.

Sé. Span. I know; from saber.

Sea. Span. May he be; from ser.

Seco. Span. and Port. Dry. See ii. 82.

Secretario. Span. and Port. Secretary.

Segun. Span. According to.

Segundo. Span. and Port. Second.

Senhor, Senhora. Port. Señor, Señora. Span. Gentleman, lady.

Señorito, Señorita. Span. Dimin. of the above.

Seo. Span. A cathedral church.

Sereka. Arab. A theft. More correctly, sarika.

Serra. Port. A high range of mountains; the Spanish sierra.

Serrador. Span. and Port. A sawyer. Although according to some authorities this was the real name of the person mentioned in i. 138, 233, it seems that he was really a sawyer, by name José Miralles, born in Valencia, on the borders of Aragon. He served under El Fraile (The Friar), a Guerilla chief in the Napoleonic wars, and was rather the rival than the lieutenant of Cabrera, who imprisoned him, on which occasion he broke both his legs in a vain attempt to escape. He subsequently took part in the rising at Maeztrazgo, in 1844, and died in the campaign of that year, while serving under General Villalonga.

Serrania. Span. and Port. District or country of sierras, or mountain ridges.

Servil. Span. and Port. Servile. Applied, as a substantive, as a party nickname to the Royalists on the outbreak of the first civil war in 1820.

Sesó (fem. Sesí, plur. Sesé, also = Spain). Rom. A Spaniard. In Spanish the word signifies “brain,” P. ii. 249.

Shaitán. Arab. Satan, the devil.

Shee. Arab. Thing.

Shekel. Hebr. A Hebrew coin of uncertain value. The word itself means merely “a weight.”

Shem. Hebr. Name.

Shem Hamphorash. Hebr. The separated, reserved, or special Name, i.e. Yahweh. Always transliterated Adonai. Lord (a word which itself, perhaps, contains the Span. Don), whence Κύριος, Dominus, and the Lord, have found their way into translations of the Old Testament. Our English “Jehovah” contains the forbidden consonants of Yahweh and the vowel points of Adonai.

Shereef. Arab. Noble.

Shillam eidri. Apparently meant for lashon ivri = the Hebrew tongue.

Shoob. Borrovian for the Russian shuba, a fur cloak or pelisse. The word has made its way into Eng. Rom. as shooba, a gown.

Shrit. Apparently for the Arabic ishtari = buy.

Sibat. Arab. Slippers. More correctly, sabbāt.

Sidi. Arab. My lord. More usually written Said or Sayyid, the same as the more familiar Cid. The fem. Sitti = my lady, is familiar to every lady who has visited North Africa.

Sierras. Span. Lit. saws; applied to mountain ranges, from their serrated outline.

Siesta. Span. Lat. sexta (hora), noon. Noontide or afternoon sleep. Sext is one of the canonical hours of the Catholic Church.

Siete. Span. Seven.

Siglo. Span. Century, age.

Signor, Signore. Ital. Sir.

Sin. Span. Without.

Sinah. See Dar.

Sinar. Rom. To be. Sin, he is; sinava, I was. P. ii. 250; Pp. 255; M. vii. 66.

Sōc. Arab. A market. More correctly, sūḳ. Soc de barra = outer market.

Sociedad. Span. Society.

Soga. Span. A rope; a well-rope; a halter for beasts; the halter for hanging a man.