braza

English

Alternative forms

• brass

Etymology

From Spanish braza (“Spanish brace”), from Old Spanish braça, from Latin brachia, variant of bracchium (“arm, cubit”), from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “upper arm”).

Noun

braza (plural brazas)

1. (historical) Synonym of estado, a traditional Spanish unit of length equivalent to about 1.67 m.

Galician

16h century Galician inscription, Saint Mary's church, Pontevedra: Aqui mandou fazer Juan de Celis e su muger duas braças de parede ("Here Xoan of Celis and his wife ordered to build two fathoms of wall")

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese braça, from Latin brachia, variant of bracchium (“forearm, cubit”), from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “upper arm”). Compare Portuguese braça, Spanish braza.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɾaθa̝/, (western) /ˈbɾasa̝/

Noun

braza m (plural brazas)

1. (historical, measure) braza, a Spanish brace or fathom, a former measure of length equal to 2 varas or about 1.67 meters

Coordinate terms

• pé (¹⁄₆ braza), vara (¹⁄₂ braza), paso (⁵⁄₆ braza)

Related terms

• abrazar
• brazada

References

• “braça” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “braça” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “braza” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “braza” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “braza” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish braça, from Latin brachia, variant of bracchium (“forearm, cubit”), from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “upper arm”). Doublet of brazo. Cognate with Galician braza, Portuguese braça, Catalan braça and braçat, Italian braccia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈbɾaθa/ [ˈbɾa.θa]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /ˈbɾasa/ [ˈbɾa.sa]
• (Spain) Rhymes: -aθa
• (Latin America) Rhymes: -asa
• Syllabification: bra‧za

Noun

braza f (plural brazas)

1. breaststroke
2. (historical) Synonym of estado, the Spanish brace or fathom (a traditional unit of length equal to 2 varas or about 1.67 meters)

Derived terms

• braza española
• braza inglesa

 

Further reading

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