cicatero

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish cegatero (“reseller”), from Arabic سَقَّاط (saqqāṭ, “seller of trinkets or things of little value”), related to Arabic سَقَط (saqaṭ, “worthless”). Coromines and Pascual explain the development of the root to cic- as influence from cica (“money bag”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /θikaˈteɾo/ [θi.kaˈt̪e.ɾo]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /sikaˈteɾo/ [si.kaˈt̪e.ɾo]
• Rhymes: -eɾo
• Syllabification: ci‧ca‧te‧ro

Adjective

cicatero (feminine cicatera, masculine plural cicateros, feminine plural cicateras)

1. miserly, mean, stingy

   Synonyms: ruin, roñoso, avaro, agarrado

   • 2015 July 26, “Fracaso de Domecq y entrega de Fernando Rey en su alternativa”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Otra vez se puso en evidencia el trato injusto que se dedica a los toreros acartelados con las corridas duras: además de bailar con la más recelosa -que no fea-, no disfrutan de la misma generosidad que se le reserva a las figuras, ni por parte del público, algo cicatero, ni de la presidencia.

     Once again the unjust treatment of carteled bullfighters in difficult bullfights became evident: besides having to deal with the most suspicious, if not ugly, activity, they do not receive the same generosity [more prominent] figures receive, neither from the somewhat miserly audience, nor from the show presidency.

2. punctilious, concerned with worthless small things or details

   Synonym: puntilloso

Derived terms

• cicatería

 

Noun

cicatero m (plural cicateros, feminine cicatera, feminine plural cicateras)

1. miser

   Synonym: avaro

Further reading

• “cicatero”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “cicatero”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 63