almiar

Spanish

Etymology

Coromines and Pascual consider it to reflect the ellipsis of an unattested Late Latin (pertica) mediālis (“pole that goes in the middle of a haystack to hold it together”), with the meaning subsequently transferred to the haystack itself. Compare Portuguese almeara, almeada, and almiare (“outdoor hay-shed”), found in Castilian-influenced dialects. They take the Spanish variant ameal, found in Cespedosa de Tormes, to reflect an archaic stage of the word, with the /a-/ taken from a preceding feminine definite article la; that may be why they posit a feminine Latin etymon, despite the gender of the Spanish word. Initial /a-/ turning to /al-/, whether under Arabic influence or otherwise, is not uncommon in Spanish; cf. Latin amygdala > Spanish almendra. Once ameal turned to *almeal, the final /-l/ could then dissimilate to /-r/, which would help explain the form almiar. On the other hand, Arabic الْمِيَر (al-miyar, “the provisions”, definite plural of مِيرَة (mīra)), if not simply the source of the Spanish word, can have at least influenced it.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /alˈmjaɾ/ [alˈmjaɾ]
  • Rhymes: -aɾ
  • Syllabification: al‧miar

Noun

almiar m (plural almiares)

  1. large haystack kept in storage, often with a pole through its centre

References

Further reading

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