bulra

Galician

Burla Negra ("Black Joke"), the ship of Galician pirate Benito de Soto

Alternative forms

• burla, burra

Etymology

Unknown. From Old Galician-Portuguese burla (13th century, earliest attestation of this word); probably from a pre-Roman substrate of Iberia. Cognate with Portuguese burla, Spanish burla, Catalan burla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbulra̝/

Noun

bulra m (plural bulras)

1. mockery, joke

   Synonyms: chacota, moca

   • 1460, Rui Vasques, edited by J. A. Souto Cabo, Crónica de Santa María de Iria, page 93:

     porque a memoria da Eglleia de Yria he Ja quasy perdida, porende eu, querendo a alguũ tanto tornar a memoria dos que nõ saben nẽ creen Ja que fose obispado -ante o han por bulrra-

     because the memory of the Church of Iria is almost lost, then I, wanting to bring back this remembrance to those than don't know and no longer believe that Iria was a bishopric -they even take this for a joke-

2. fraud

   Synonyms: engano, fraude

   • 1390, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Os Miragres de Santiago., Madrid: C.S.I.C., page 180:

     chegou a Panpelona et acaeçeu que lle morreu a moller y, et hũ ospede mao cõ que pousaua tomoulle quanto tragia por bulrra, et viose desanparado

     he arrived to Pamplona, and it happened that his wife died there, and a mean guest with whom he was staying took everything he was carrying using a fraud, and he found himself helpless

Derived terms

• burlador
• burlar

Related terms

• burlesco

Further reading

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