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Ojalá
Words
Certain: The standard etymology in the RAE dictionary and in Corriente; no serious doubt.Places · Common

Alcántara

town in Cáceres with a famous Roman bridge over the Taguspueblo de Cáceres con un célebre puente romano sobre el Tajo

Comes from Arabic

القَنْطَرَة

al-qanṭara

“the (arched) bridge”«el puente (de arcos)»

Arabic today says

الجِسْر

al-jisr

Root

ق ن ط ر

q-n-ṭ-r

The article

Spanish kept the Arabic article al- glued to the word.

The story

The name describes Trajan's Roman bridge, which the Andalusis called Qanṭarat as-Sayf, "the bridge of the sword". Qanṭara is still used today for arched bridges, but a plain "bridge" is jisr.El nombre describe el puente romano de Trajano, que los andalusíes llamaron Qanṭarat as-Sayf, «el puente de la espada». Hoy qanṭara sigue usándose para puentes de arco, pero «puente» a secas es jisr.

In a sentence

El puente de Alcántara tiene casi dos mil años.

The bridge at Alcántara is almost two thousand years old.

عُمْر جِسْر القَنْطَرَة قَرَابَة أَلْفَي عَام.

More words from the root ق ن ط ر

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