falcatrúa

Galician

Alternative forms

• falcatrua (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese falcatrua (used c. 1285 by the Galician author Airas Nunes), a compound word of obscure origin; the second theme is possibly related to truán (“rogue”), of Celtic origin.

Cognate with Portuguese falcatrua and Asturian falcatrúa, francatrúa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fal.kaˈtɾu.ɐ]

Noun

falcatrúa f (plural falcatrúas)

1. (dated) saddlebag, purse
   • 1862, Manuel Magariños, Ferrocarril Compostelano:

     Pro tamén veu de Castela un Seor aló ben rico, que traguía as falcatroas cheas co o ouro bonito

     But it also came from Castille a gentleman who there is quite rich, who brought the saddlebags filled with the beauty gold

2. trickery, fraud
   • 1889, A Monteira, number 6, page 43:

     Antes de rubir ó puleiro, non fan máis que cacarexar qu'han facer i acontecer, pro non se ve outra cousa dempois máis qu'os benfeitos que reciben tódo-los que teñen a sorte de ll'axudar nas falcatrúas, pr'amocar ós que non son do pau, e nas trécolas pra conquerir sona co cacique maor, que dende Madril diuta disposiciós d'intrés particolar prós seus nagocios.

     (the councillors) before climbing onto the perch do nothing but cackle about what they'll do and what will be, but then you don't see anything other than the benefits received by all who have the fortune to help them in their frauds, to club those that don't belong to the same suit, and the tricks to gain fame with the great cacique, who from Madrid dictates dispositions of particular interest for his own business.

3. wrongdoing

Derived terms

• falcatruada
• falcatruán

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “falcatrua”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “falcatrua”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “falcatrua”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “falcatroa”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “falcatrúa”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN