legua

See also: légua

English

Etymology

From Spanish legua (“Spanish league”) and Portuguese légua (“Portuguese league”), from Late Latin leuga and leuca (“Gaulish league, distance of one hour's walking”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *lougā.

Noun

legua (plural leguas)

1. (historical) Spanish league, a traditional Spanish unit of distance equivalent to about 4.2 km.
2. (historical) Portuguese league, a traditional Portuguese unit of distance, variously reckoned as 4444.4, 5555.6, or 6172.8 m.

Synonyms

• (Spanish unit): Spanish league, league (Spanish contexts)
• (Portuguese unit): Portuguese league, league (Portuguese contexts)

Coordinate terms

• (Spanish unit): pie (¹⁄_15,000 legua), vara (¹⁄₅₀₀₀ legua), estado (¹⁄₂₅₀₀ legua), estadal (¹⁄₁₂₅₀ legua), cordel (¹⁄₁₀₀ legua), milla (¹⁄₃ legua)
• (Portuguese unit): estadio (¹⁄₂₄ legua), milha (¹⁄₃ legua), degree (18, 20, or 25 leguas)

Galician

Map of the Kingdom of Galicia, 1784. The distance is given in leagues

Alternative forms

• légoa (archaic)
• légua (Reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese legua, attested in the 13th-century Cantigas de Santa Maria, from Late Latin leuga and leuca (“Gaulish mile”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *lougā. Cognate with Spanish legua, Portuguese légua, and Catalan llegua.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛɡwa/ [ˈlɛ.ɣ̞wɐ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈlɛɡwa/ [ˈlɛ.ɣ̞wɐ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada) /ˈlɛħwa/ [ˈlɛ.ħwɐ]

 

• Rhymes: -ɛɡwa

• Rhymes: -ɛɡwa
• Rhymes: -ɛħwa

• Hyphenation: le‧gua

Noun

legua f (plural leguas)

1. (historical) legua, Spanish league, traditional unit of distance equivalent to about 4.2 km
   • 1434, M. González Garcés, editor, Historia de La Coruña. Edad Media, A Coruña: Caixa Galicia, page 609:

     Manda o conçello et os alcalldes, regidores et procuradores desta villa da crunna de parte de noso sennor el Rey et do dito conçello da dita villa et porque asi he ordenança antiga que nehunus çapateiros et outras quasquer personas que non sejan çapateiros et vezinnos et moradores da dita villa et en ela non pagan talla con os outros çapateiros vezjnnos da dita villa que non son confrades dos çapateiros asi como os çapateiros de portal, que non vsen dos ditos ofiçios de çapateria nen vendan çapatos nen botas nen outro calçado de coiro en publico nen ascondido nen los ponnan en tendas nen portaes nen anden a vender por la dita villa et pescaria dela Et desde Palavea et media legoa da villa enderredor a villa saluo se os venderen a engros aos ditos çapateiros que viuen et moran na dita villa ou eles os consentiren vender en seus portaes.

     the council and mayors, councilmen and agents of this town of A Coruña, on behalf of our lord the King and of this town council, and because so it is an old ordinance; that no shoemaker or whichever other person who is not a shoemaker and neighbour and dweller of the said town and in it they did not pay contributions with the other shoemakers neighbours of the said town and which are not a brother of the guild of the shoemakers, as well as the shoemakers who work at their porches; that they should not use of this office of shoemaking nor should they sell shoes nor boots nor any other leather footwear, nor publicly, nor in hiding, nor should they put them in shops nor porches nor should they go selling them around this town and its fishery [outskirts neighbourhood], nor from Palavea and half a league around this town, except if they sell them in bulk to the said shoemakers that live and dwell in the said town or if they let them sell at their porches

References

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

Portuguese

Noun

legua f (plural leguas)

1. Obsolete spelling of légua.

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin leuga and leuca (“Gaulish league, distance of one hour's walking”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *lougā. Cognate with Galician legua, Portuguese légua, and Catalan llegua.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleɡwa/ [ˈle.ɣ̞wa]
• Rhymes: -eɡwa
• Syllabification: le‧gua

Noun

legua f (plural leguas)

1. (historical) legua, Spanish league (a traditional unit of distance equivalent to about 4.2 km)
2. (figurative) mile (any great distance)

Coordinate terms

• pie (¹⁄_15,000 legua), vara (¹⁄₅₀₀₀ legua), estado (¹⁄₂₅₀₀ legua), estadal (¹⁄₁₂₅₀ legua), cordel (¹⁄₁₀₀ legua), milla (¹⁄₃ legua)

Derived terms

• a la legua
• legua cuadrada
• legua de posta
• legua geográfica
• legua marina
• legua marítima
• legua real
• tragaleguas

 

Further reading

• “legua”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28