Augapesada
A Coruña · La CoruñaGalicia
Transparent Galician compound from the Latin aqua pesata ('heavy water', participle of pensare, 'to weigh, ponder'), descriptively applied to stagnant or slow-flowing waters of the Roxos stream, tributary of the Tambre with abundant flow that traditionally moved flour mills.
Evolution of the name
- aqua + pesata late Latin 5th–9th centuries
- Augapesada medieval Galician from the 12th century
Reflections, to the letter
The name says 'heavy water': the slow, pooling flow of the stream crossing the hamlet, so still it seems to weigh. Beside the medieval bridge that spans it, a grain mill still survives, turned by that same current. Pause on the bridge, listen to the water drag slowly towards the millstone, and you hear exactly what those who named the place Augapesada once heard.
Glossary
- Auga (Galician)
- Galician form of Latin aqua, with vocalic opening of the intervocalic diphthong characteristic of Galician-Portuguese as opposed to Castilian agua. Productive in Galician toponymy: Augasantas, Augaboa, Auganegra, Augapesada.
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