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

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “braça”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “braça”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “braza”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “braza”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “braza”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

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, Philippines) /ˈbɾasa/ [ˈbɾa.sa]
• Rhymes: -aθa
• 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 [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10