# "Ferreterias" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457 "2008-09-07T05:12:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/1 "2008-09-07T05:12:19Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/2 "2008-09-07T05:31:25Z")
Ferre = “iron” (actually, _hierro_ means “iron”, but apparently the word changes for the term in question) It’s a hardware store. [Untranslated Spanish Wikipedia page](http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferreter%C3%ADa) [Google Translation](http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferreter%25C3%25ADa&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dferreteria%26start%3D20%26num%3D20%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/3 "2008-09-07T08:53:37Z")
Nevermind ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/4 "2008-09-07T09:34:39Z")
I always translate it “Ironmonger,” because it makes me smile. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/5 "2008-09-07T11:08:01Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > 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](http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/fierro-family-crest.htm) and the name of the protagonist of a [famous poem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mart%C3%ADn_Fierro) by Argentine writer José Hernández. It is just amazing what you can find on the Internet if you just look around a bit. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/6 "2008-09-07T11:25:13Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Ferre = “iron” (actually, _hierro_ means “iron”, but apparently the word changes for the term in question) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/7 "2008-09-07T13:26:18Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/8 "2008-09-07T14:02:20Z")
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!) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/9 "2008-09-07T14:08:14Z")
The same suffix survives in the English word cafeteria. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/10 "2008-09-07T14:31:14Z")
**"Ferreterias"** In Japan that’s something altogether different. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/11 "2008-09-07T15:07:47Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Did you happen to see any “Joyeria’s”? I wonder if they have those in Spain as well. 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?! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/12 "2008-09-07T15:08:24Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > 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… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/13 "2008-09-07T15:08:26Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > 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. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/14 "2008-09-07T23:01:17Z")
> [@11811](#): > > I think it’s likely that iron was formerly called fierro and that ferreteria comes from tha era. No! Really? You don’t say! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/15 "2008-09-08T00:56:50Z")
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)? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/16 "2008-09-08T00:59:39Z")
Hardware stores. I have no idea what a blacksmith is in continental Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/17 "2008-09-08T01:10:59Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/18 "2008-09-08T02:22:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/19 "2008-09-08T03:52:52Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Hardware stores. I have no idea what a blacksmith is in continental Spanish. 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. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457/20 "2008-09-08T06:52:16Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferreterias/462457.md?page=2)