a hurto

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish a furto, inherited from Latin fūrtō (“stealthily”) with preposition reinforcing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a ˈuɾto/ [a ˈuɾ.t̪o]
• Syllabification: a hur‧to

Phrase

a hurto

1. (now literary) stealthily, in secret
   • 1626, Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Varia fortuna del soldado Píndaro p. 149, (ed. by Arsenio Pacheco, 1975, Madrid: Espasa-Calpe):

     Andava don Francisco transformado en su amor y convertido en sombra de su dama, sin perderla de vista, dando los mismos bordos y passeos y valiéndose de ocasiones que, a hurto, dieron lugar de hablarse, y aun tocarse las manos, favor que enloquezía a mi cautivo amigo, no sin gran risa mía

     Don Francisco was now going about transformed in love, converted into his lady's shadow not losing sight of her, taking walks in the places and making the most out of times when, in secret, they were able to speak and even join hands, which made my enthralled friend crazy, not without my laughter

   • 1882, Vicente Pérez Rosales, Recuerdos del pasado (1814-1860) :

     No tardó ésta en presentarse; el asesino, preso y convicto, fue en el acto condenado a muerte; el violador resultó ser alemán, y los autores de la exhumación, unos despreciables indígenas que, sin otro objeto que el de hacerse de un anillo de oro, habían, a hurto de las autoridades, cometido aquel torpe desacato.

     The [opportunity] showed up without delay. The murderer, caught and jailed, was immediately sentenced to death. The rapist turned out to be a German man, and the perpetrators of the exhumation were despicable indigenous people who, with no other purpose than gaining a gold ring, had carried out the foolish disrespect in secret [hiding it] from the authorities.

Further reading

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