Borres
Principado de Asturias
Toponym of disputed origin. The two competing readings are an anthroponymic one —from the Gothic anthroponym Borrus or Borrellus, in plural possessive— and a pre-Roman one that appeals to a base bor-/borr- of relief or vegetation, without firm parallels. The hamlet is the bifurcation point of the Primitivo between the Hospitales variant and the lower variant via Pola de Allande.
The anthroponymic reading finds support in the attestation of the Gothic name Borrus (root burs-, 'red', a parallel to Castilian borra, 'tuft of wool, coarse wool') and Borrellus in early-medieval Asturian charters. The substantivised plural Borres (villae Borrorum, 'the villas of the Borros') would follow the habitual pattern of collective possessive toponymy. The alternative reading appeals to an opaque pre-Roman base bor-/borr-, present in toponyms of the northern Peninsula without firm semantic reconstruction. The hamlet of Borres belongs to the council of Tineo and sits on the high pass that separates the Narcea valley from the Esva valley —a critical point of the Primitivo: here the pilgrim chooses between the Hospitales variant (the historic, high route via the Palo pass and the old pilgrim hospices at 1100 m) and the Pola de Allande variant (the modern, low one, along the road). Borres preserves the small parish church of San Pedro, modest, Romanesque reformed in the Baroque.
Evolution of the name
- Borrus / Borreum Gothic / pre-Roman 6th — 9th centuries
- Borres medieval Asturleonese from the 12th century
Glossary
- Anthroponym
- A personal name, often used as the base of toponyms (Lucronius → Logroño, Sigerici → Castrojeriz, Sacavus → Sacavém).
- 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.
- Substantivised plural
- A device by which an adjective or noun in the plural is fixed as a place name without the noun that governed it: fontanas = "[lands of the] springs", ferreiros = "[place of the] smiths". Frequent in medieval repopulation.
Sources
- García Arias, X.Ll. — Toponimia asturiana
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 Primitivo