O Cebreiro
Cebreiro
LugoGalicia
From late Latin cebrarium 'place of cebros' —the cebro or zebro was an Iberian wild equid now extinct (Equus hydruntinus), inhabiting the northwest mountains until the 16th century—. The high pass was the territory of herds until medieval times.
The toponym preserves the memory of an extinct animal. The cebro or zebro —not to be confused with the African zebra, a later linguistic link— was a wild equid endemic to the Iberian peninsula, descended from the European Equus hydruntinus, which survived in peninsular mountain ranges until the 16th century, when it was hunted to extinction. Toponymy preserves its traces: Cebreros (Ávila), Cebreiro (Lugo), Sebreiro (Asturias). The high pass of O Cebreiro —1,300 m altitude, the border between Leonese Bierzo and Galician sierra— was preferred habitat of the herds until early medieval times.
Evolution of the name
- cebro / cebra (équido salvaje) Romance 6th — 15th century
- cebrarium / Cebreiro late Latin / Galician from the 9th century
- O Cebreiro Galician from the 13th century
Sources
- Concello de Pedrafita do Cebreiro
- Cabeza Quiles, F. — Os nomes da terra: estudos etimolóxicos (Vigo: Edicións Xerais, 2008)
- Morales Muñiz, A. — El cebro: un équido salvaje en la España medieval (Madrid: UAM, 2000)
- Bascuas, E. — Estudios de hidronimia paleoeuropea gallega (Santiago de Compostela: USC, 2002)
- Pensado, J.L. — Estudios etimológicos galaico-portugueses (Salamanca: Universidad, 1983)
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Camino Francés