cousela

Galician

Alternative forms

• causela

Etymology

14th century. From Late Latin capsella (“capsule; little box”). Cognate, perhaps, with Portuguese coucela.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kowˈsɛlɐ/

Noun

cousela f (plural couselas)

1. receptacle
   • 1390, José Luis Pensado Tomé, editor, Os Miragres de Santiago. Versión gallega del Códice latino del siglo XII atribuido al papa Calisto I, Madrid: C.S.I.C, page 1:

     vn rromeu alamã cõ outros de sua cõpana tomou hũa grã presa de dineiros de prata et ofereçeos sobre la cousela da cabeça de Santiago

     a pilgrim from Germany, with others from his group, took a large handful of silver coins and offered them over the receptacle of the head of [the statue representing] Saint James

2. case, casket (a little box, for jewellery or for keeping the communion wafers)
   • 1418, Ángel Rodríguez González (ed.), Libro do Concello de Santiago (1416-1422). Santiago de Compostela: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 111:

     Iten que destes vos o dito Gil Peres por hũa cousela para levar as petiçoes a a Reyna, tres moravedis et por çera para seelar as peticões quatro blanquas et por papel para os testimoyos et traslados et petições hũu moravedi

     Item, that you, the aforementioned Gil Peres, gave, for a box for taking the petitions to the Queen, three moravedis, and for wax for sealing the petitions four brancas, and for paper for the testimonies, and copies, and petitions, a moravedi

   • 1426, Antonio López Ferreiro (ed.), Historia de la Santa A. M. Iglesia de Santiago de Compostela, XI, nº Adicións-1.1, pp. 79-92:

     outro relicario en que anda a espina da coroa de Ihu. Xpo., et ten dous angeletes et hua cousela en medeo de beril, en que está a dita espina

     another reliquary which contains a thorn of the crown of Jesus Chist, and it has two little angels and a little box in the middle, made in beryl, that holds the aforementioned thorn

3. box which takes the cereal from the hopper and drops it over the millstone, regulating the pace

Related terms

• caixa (“box”)
• couso (“trap; deposit”)
• requeixo (“cornered place”)

References

• “cousel” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “cousela” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “cousela” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “cousela” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.