en balde

Galician

Etymology

Attested since circa 1350. Ultimately from Andalusian Arabic بَاطِل (báṭil), from Arabic بَاطِل (bāṭil, “vain”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [emˈbaldɪ]

Adverb

en balde

1. in vain

   Synonym: en van

   • 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 549:

     Et aos que me assý seruẽ, faço eu ben, et doulles o que deseian, et nũca me seruẽ en balde.

     And to the ones who serve me so, I make good; and I give them what they desire, and never they serve me in vain.

Related terms

• de balde

References

• Ernesto González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “balde”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “en balde”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• “balde” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “en balde” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “en balde” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Spanish

Etymology

Ultimately from Andalusian Arabic بَاطِل (báṭil), from Arabic بَاطِل (bāṭil, “vain”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /em ˈbalde/ [ẽm ˈbal̪.d̪e]
• Syllabification: en bal‧de

Adverb

en balde

1. (idiomatic) in vain, for nothing

   Synonym: en vano

Descendants

• → Tetelcingo Nahuatl: en bölde

Further reading

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