almiar

== Spanish == === Etymology === Coromines and Pascual consider it to reflect the ellipsis of an unattested Late Latin (pertica) mediālis (“pole that goes in the middle of a haystack to hold it together”), with the meaning subsequently transferred to the haystack itself. Compare Portuguese almeara, almeada, and almiare (“outdoor hay-shed”), found in Castilian-influenced dialects. They take the Spanish variant ameal, found in Cespedosa de Tormes, to reflect an archaic stage of the word, with the /a-/ taken from a preceding feminine definite article la; that may be why they posit a feminine Latin etymon, despite the gender of the Spanish word. Initial /a-/ turning to /al-/, whether under Arabic influence or otherwise, is not uncommon in Spanish; cf. Latin amygdala > Spanish almendra. Once ameal turned to *almeal, the final /-l/ could then dissimilate to /-r/, which would help explain the form almiar. On the other hand, Arabic الْمِيَر (al-miyar, “the provisions”, definite plural of مِيرَة (mīra)), if not simply the source of the Spanish word, can have at least influenced it. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /alˈmjaɾ/ [alˈmjaɾ] Rhymes: -aɾ Syllabification: al‧miar === Noun === almiar m (plural almiares) large haystack kept in storage, often with a pole through its centre === References === “almiar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025 Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1984), “almiar”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎[1] (in Spanish), volume I (A–Ca), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 191 === Further reading === “almiar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025