Rocinante
(Spanish pronunciation: is Don Quixote's horse in the novel Don Quixote by
Miguel de Cervantes. In many ways, Rocinante is not only Don Quixote's horse,
but also his double: like Don Quixote, he is awkward, past his prime, and
engaged in a task beyond his capacities.
Rocín in Spanish means a work horse or low-quality horse,
but can also mean an illiterate or rough man. There are similar words inFrench
(roussin; rosse), Portuguese (rocim), and Italian (ronzino). The etymology is
uncertain.
The name is a complex pun. In Spanish, ante has several
meanings and can function as a standalone word as well as a suffix. One meaning
is "before" or "previously". Another is "in front
of". As a suffix, -ante in Spanish is adverbial; rocinante refers to
functioning as, or being, a rocín. "Rocinante", then, follows
Cervantes' pattern using ambiguous, multivalent words, common throughout the
novel.
Rocinante's name, then, signifies his change in status from
the "old nag" of before to the "foremost" steed.As
Cervantes describes Don Quijote's choice of name: nombre a su parecer alto,
sonoro y significativo de lo que había sido cuando fue rocín, antes de lo que
ahora era, que era antes y primero de todos los rocines del mundo"a
name, to his thinking, lofty, sonorous, and significant of his condition as a
hack before he became what he now was, the first and foremost of all the hacks
in the world"
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