callau

Galician

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *kalyāwo- (stone), either from a local Celtic substrate or a borrowing from Old French or Old Occitan. Compare French caillou.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kaˈʎaw/

Noun

callau m (plural callaus)

  1. pebble
    Synonyms: coio, croio, pelouro
  2. a middle sized fragment of stone
    • 1905, Antonio López Ferreiro, O niño de pombas, page 5:
      bateu n-unha corredoira en forma de embudo, ancha na entrada, estreita no cabo, no cal a cerraba un valo de terra e callaus
      he ended in a funnelled sunken lane, wide in the entrance, narrow in the other extreme where it was closed by a wall made of earth and stones
  3. a frozen lump of earth

References

  1. ^ Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1983–1991) “callao”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos