xaxún

Galician

Alternative forms

• xexún
• jajum, jejum (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese *jajun (attested in the plural jajũus, 13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin iēiūnium (“fast”), from iēiūnus (“hungry, abstinent”), from Proto-Italic *jagjūnos, itself from Proto-Indo-European *Hyeh₂ǵ-yu-, adjectival form of *Hyeh₂ǵ-ye/o- (“to sacrifice”). Compare Portuguese jejum, French jeûne and Spanish ayuno. Doublet of the borrowed xexuno.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃaˈʃuŋ/ [ʃaˈʃuŋ]
• Rhymes: -uŋ
• Hyphenation: xa‧xún

Noun

xaxún m (plural xaxúns)

1. fast, fasting (abstention from food)
   • c. 1390, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Os Miragres de Santiago, Madrid, C.S.I.C., page 200:

     Crees tu que atã grã pecado com̃o tu fezeche, que che seja perdoado por lagremas et por jajũus?

     Do you believe, given such a big sin as you did, that it will be forgiven through tears and fastings?

2. fast, fasting (period of time when one abstains from food)

Related terms

• xaxuar

References

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “jaj”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “xexún”, 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), “xaxún”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega