hidalgo

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish hidalgo.

Noun

hidalgo (plural hidalgos or hidalgoes)

1. A member of the Spanish nobility, especially one without a title.
   • 1889: W. S. Gilbert, The Gondoliers, Act I

     The young man seems to entertain but an imperfect appreciation of the respect due from a menial to a Castilian hidalgo.

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish hidalgo.

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /i.dal.ɡo/
• Rhymes: -o
• Homophone: hidalgos

Noun

hidalgo m (plural hidalgos)

1. hidalgo
   • 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche, volume 1, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter I:

     Dans une bourgade de la Manche, dont je ne veux pas me rappeler le nom, vivait, il n’y a pas longtemps, un hidalgo, de ceux qui ont lance au râtelier, rondache antique, bidet maigre et lévrier de chasse.

     In a village of La Mancha, whose name I don't want to remember, lived, not long ago, an hidalgo, of the type that have a lance on the rack, an antique rondache, a meagre horse and a hunting hound.

Further reading

• “hidalgo” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Alternative forms

• hijodalgo
• fidalgo (obsolete)

Etymology

Shortened from hijo de algo; see hijodalgo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iˈdalɡo/, [iˈðalɡo]

Adjective

hidalgo (feminine singular hidalga, masculine plural hidalgos, feminine plural hidalgas)

1. noble

Noun

hidalgo m (plural hidalgos, feminine hidalga, feminine plural hidalgas)

1. noble, nobleman
   • 1605, Miguel de Cervantes, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, Primera parte, Capítulo I

     En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme, no ha mucho tiempo que vivía un hidalgo de los de lanza en astillero, adarga antigua, rocín flaco y galgo corredor.

     In a village of La Mancha, of whose name I don't want to remember, lived, not long ago, a nobleman, of the type with a lance on the rack, an antique rondache, a meagre horse and a hunting hound.

Further reading

• “hidalgo” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.