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Certain: The standard etymology in the RAE dictionary and in Corriente; no serious doubt.Home & town · Common

almirez

small metal mortar for crushingmortero pequeño de metal para machacar

Comes from Arabic

المِهْرَاس

al-mihrās

“the mortar”«el mortero»

Arabic today says

هَاوُن

hāwun

Root

ه ر س

h-r-s

The article

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

The story

From harasa, "to crush". The Arabic h disappeared and the stress fell on the last syllable: al-mihrás > almirez.De harasa, «machacar». La h árabe desapareció y el acento cayó en la última sílaba: al-mihrás > almirez.

In a sentence

Machaca el ajo en el almirez.

Crush the garlic in the mortar.

اِهْرُسِ الثُّومَ فِي الهَاوُن.

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