I just got back from Spain, where I saw a couple of stores called “Ferreterias.” I was a little too squeamish to check them out, imagining some pimply kid serving up ferretburgers with fries.
But seriously, why are they called Ferreterias?
Ferre = “iron” (actually, hierro means “iron”, but apparently the word changes for the term in question)
It’s a hardware store.
Nevermind
I always translate it “Ironmonger,” because it makes me smile.
A “ferretería” would be an “ironmongery”. An “ironmonger” would be a “ferretero”.
“Ferrum” is “iron” in Latin which explains “Fe” as the chemical symbol for iron and words like “ferrous” in English.
The world evolved to “ferro” and later “fierro” in old Spanish and, like many words starting with “f”, it later lost the “f” which changed to an unpronounced “h”. “Fierro” first appears around 1065 and "hierro in 1495 but “fierro” was preferred in some parts of Spain well into the late 19th century and is still used in parts of Latin-America.
In Catalan it is “ferro” and “ferro” and “fierro” were also used with the meaning of boat or ship’s “anchor”.
“Ferretería” and “ferretero” are Spanish words which are derived from Catalan where the suffix “-eter” denotes the activity, trade or profession of a person.
There are many words in Spanish which derive from the same root because they are directly related to iron and “ferreteria” is just one of them. One whose relation is not so clear is “aferrar”, “to secure or make fast” which originated as a nautical term in Catalan and meant to hold another ship alongside with grapnels, hooks and anchors in preparation for boarding.
“Fierro”, is also a family name and the name of the protagonist of a famous poem by Argentine writer José Hernández.
It is just amazing what you can find on the Internet if you just look around a bit.
Actually there are instances of Spanish words that used to begin with an f and now begin with an h. Hacer was formerly facer, and hinca and finca I think went the other way.
I think it’s likely that iron was formerly called fierro and that ferreteria comes from tha era.
If I remember correctly, retention of the Late Latin/Old Spanish /f/ sound where Castellano went, first for a palatalized /h/, then for a /y/ (still written as hi, was a characteristic pf Aragonese dialect. In some specialized “fossilized” usages, Castellano preserved the /f/ sound or readopted it by borrowing.
Saw the same thing in South America, very fun.
Did you happen to see any “Joyeria’s”? I wonder if they have those in Spain as well.
(It’s a jewelry store!)
The same suffix survives in the English word cafeteria.
"Ferreterias"
In Japan that’s something altogether different.
We have one of those not far from my house (north side of Chicago = large Spanish speaking population) and it makes me smile every time I go buy. Imagine, a store where you can buy joy! How wonderful is that?! 
I hear they have a few of those in Nevada…
:eek:
No! Really? You don’t say!
So in Spain, were they really iron works shops, or just normal hardware stores like they are in Mexico (and brief glimpses I’ve seen in L.A.-based movies)?
Hardware stores. I have no idea what a blacksmith is in continental Spanish.
The surname “Herrera” is cognate to the English surname “Smith”, so my WAG is that that’s the correct word.
You can see the “Ferreteria” sign for the hardware aisles in the Home Depots and Lowe’s in the Boston area. But they don’t carry the wire cages and the cute little trampolines. False advertising, I say.
blacksmith: herrero
blacksmithy: herrería
My grandfather used to run a small-town ferretería and indeed it was primarily an “ironmonger” shop: it was where people would buy pots and pans, nails and screws, kerosene lanterns and stoves, hammers and saws, axe/hoe/pick/plow heads, machetes, etc.
Hey! ** Polycarp**! I thought you were gone! Nice to see you again! And **sailor **too! 
A Ferreteria is indeed a hardware store, so do not worry Ferret Herder 
Balthisar: I can say that AFAICR a ferreteria in Latin America is usually just a hardware store, not sure if in Spain they also include or still use blacksmiths, however in Central America you could see ferreterias also offering cart parts, car repair services and other items.