andurrial

Spanish

FWOTD – 25 February 2015

Etymology

Unknown. Proposed etymologies include:

• From Andalusian Arabic [Term?].
• From Basque andur (“contemptible”).
• From andar (“to walk”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /anduˈrjal/ [ãn̪.d̪uˈrjal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: an‧du‧rrial

Noun

andurrial m (plural andurriales)

1. (usually in the plural) the bush (remote, undeveloped area); the backcountry; the sticks; the middle of nowhere
   • 1615, Miguel de Cervantes, “Capítulo II”, in El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, Segunda parte:

     Idos a la vuestra, hermano, que vos sois, y no otro, el que destrae y sonsaca a mi señor, y le lleva por esos andurriales.

     Be off to your own, brother, for it is you, and no one else, that delude my master, and lead him astray, and take him tramping about the country.

Further reading

• “andurrial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014