xerra

See also: Xerra

Catalan

Etymology 1

Deverbal from xerrar

Noun

xerra f (plural xerres)

1. chat
   • 2000, Josep Vallverdú, Desmudat i a les golfes:

     El nen es trobava com el peix a l'aigua jugant i xerrant al carrer de les Cacasses, però també escoltant la xerra dels veïns i veïnes, aprenent els girs i la particular fonètica, bon tros xipella, d'aquells pobles de la vall del Corb.

     The boy found himself like a fish playing in the water and chatting in Cacasses Street, but also listening to the chat of the neighbours, learning the turns of phrase and the particular phonetics, a good bit local dialect, of those towns of the Corb valley.

Usage notes

Used chiefly in the expression moure xerra (“to have a chat”).

Derived terms

• xerrola

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

xerra

1. inflection of xerrar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “xerra”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.

Galician

Alternative forms

• jerra (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Attested since 1432 (jarra). From Arabic جَرَّة (jarra, “earthern receptacle”), cognate with Spanish and Portuguese jarra, Catalan gerra, French jarre, Italian giara and English jar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃɛrɐ]

Noun

xerra f (plural xerras)

1. jar (an earthenware container with one or more handles for holding water, wine, etc)
   • 1432, A. Rodríguez González (ed.), Livro do Concello de Pontevedra (1431-1463). Pontevedra: Museo de Pontevedra, page 66:

     o dito Pero Qrun trouxera e metera byno en jarras de sobre mar este dito año despois do tempo acostumado polo dito Conçello que lle fosen logo tornar o tal byno a jarras e lle quebrantasen as ditas jarras e o tirasen o tal byno polo tarreo

     said Pedro Cru has brought wine in jars over the sea to this town this year, beyond the usual time as established by the council; that this wine must be retuned to the jars and said jars must be broken and said wine poured on the ground

2. jug, pitcher

Derived terms

• xerro

References

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “jarra”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “xerra”, 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), “xerra”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “xerra”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN