Boimorto
A Coruña · La CoruñaGalicia
Transparent Galician compound: boi (from the Latin bos, bovem, 'ox') + morto (from the Latin mortuus, 'dead'). 'The dead ox', in reference to a commemorative founding episode whose precise detail is unknown.
The toponym is one of the most singular in Galicia for its almost narrative literalness: two nouns in apposition that commemorate, according to local tradition, a founding episode. Legends preserved in the Sobrado Chronicle (13th century) speak of an ox falling dead at the place during the transport of stones for the construction of the neighbouring Cistercian monastery, and of a count's vow that the animal ended up fulfilling with its sacrifice. The formula boi + morto preserves the Latin root bos, bovem —the same root behind Castilian buey, Italian bue, French bœuf, English beef and the Camino toponym Boente that the pilgrim crossed two days ago— and the Latin participle mortuus that Galician kept as morto. The narrative transparency of the toponym is so rare in peninsular toponymy that it has become material for paradox: few Camino villages carry on their municipal sign an entire three-word story.
Evolution of the name
- Boimorto medieval Galician-Portuguese from the 12th century
Glossary
- Etymology
- The origin and history of a word and the phonetic and semantic changes it has undergone. An etymology may be confirmed, probable or disputed depending on documentary attestations and linguistic parallels.
Sources
- Cabeza Quiles, F. — Os nomes da terra
- Yepes, A. de — Crónica de la Orden de San Benito
If you have a correction or an observation about this information,
please write to us through the form at the foot of the site.
We will grow more precise thanks to your contribution.
Camino del Norte