Vilarmaior
A Coruña · La CoruñaGalicia
Transparent Romance compound from the Galician vilar ('small agricultural hamlet', derived from the Latin villare, diminutive of villa) plus the adjective maior ('major', comparative of magnus), denomination that distinguishes this hamlet from other lesser vilares of the surroundings.
Vilar is one of the most productive topographic appellatives of medieval Galician, derived from the Latin villare (diminutive of villa) with the sense of 'small rural nucleus dependent on a larger villa'. Galician toponymy preserves more than six hundred toponyms in Vilar-. The epithet maior, applied to distinguish it from the neighbouring Vilarmenor, fixes the village hierarchy.
Evolution of the name
- villare maius late Latin 5th–9th centuries
- Vilarmaior medieval Galician from the 12th century
Glossary
- Diminutive
- A derived form indicating smaller size or affection, formed with suffixes such as -illo, -ito, -uelo, -ete. Substantivised plural diminutives abound in toponymy: Hornillos, Boadilla, Calzadilla, Comillas, Pradillos.
- Vilar (Galician appellative)
- Galician word from the Latin villare, diminutive of villa, applied in medieval toponymy to small hamlets or rural farms dependent on a larger villa. Productive with more than six hundred derived toponyms in Galicia (Vilar, Vilariño, Vilarmaior, Vilarmide). Distinct from the Castilian villar with same etymology but different toponymic uses.
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Camino Inglés