Alfajor - Etymology

Etymology

According to Spanish philologist and dialectologist Manuel Alvar López, alfajor is an Andalusian variant of the Castilian alajú, derived from the Arabic word الفاخر, al- fakhur, which is not known, neither found in América, where Andalusians introduced it as alfajor, from the Arabic word alfahua that means honeycomb. Both words had been introduced into Spanish dictionaries in the 14th century.

The publication of the historical dictionary of the Spanish language allows us to document both, alajur very broadly written as alajú and alfajor. Alajur and multiple geographic variations are sweets made of a paste of almonds, nuts, breadcrumbs and honey. It is effectively possible that alfajor and alajú were Arabisms introduced into the Spanish language in different places and times, and, supposing both came from the same etymon, from the phonetic point of view, alajú is an Arabism of the Castillian, and so it is still alive in Cuenca, Toledo, Guadalajara and in la Sierra de la peña (France); meanwhile the variation alfajor is Andalusian and Murcian. In the Americas, the meaning of the word alfajor was not known until the 19th century.