Does the Spanish word "Varones" only refer to men or can it include women in its definition as well? From my understanding it only means males/men. But I want to make sure about this. Thanks.
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1Probably not that related to what you are asking, but just in case "Todos los barones son varones, pero no todos los varones son barones." Barón is a title and the word is an homonym with varón.– DiegoCommented Aug 13, 2015 at 1:17
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Short answer: Yes– rpaxCommented Aug 15, 2015 at 19:26
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2 Answers
That is correct. varón refers exclusively to males when used to refer to humans.
answered Aug 12, 2015 at 21:31
A varón is, indeed, a male human. Currently, this word is only used to emphasize the sex of the person we are talking about, so it would translate to male in English on most situations.
The word hombre, on the contrary, can be used for a male human or in a generic sense, much as the word man is used in English, for the human species or unspecified people:
El hombre habita la Tierra desde hace un millón de años (generic; it includes men and women).
El hombre es el más longevo de los mamíferos (generic; it refers to the species, regardless of sex).
Deseo la paz entre todos los hombres (generic, once again).
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I'm afraid that's not correct. You cannot use "hombre" for a person without specifying its sex. If you talk about a "hombre" you are always talking about a male human being. Commented Aug 16, 2015 at 4:25
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@AlbertoMartín Not always. From a zoological point of view, we are all hombres. If you talk about the evolución del hombre (evolution of man), or the obras del hombre (works of man), you are not specifying sex. And if you say that an Army company holds cien hombres (a houndred men), you are not specifying sex, either. On the other hand, if you say He visto un hombre en la calle (I saw a man in the street), you do indeed mean a male person. But this is the way the word man works in English, too.– GorpikCommented Aug 17, 2015 at 6:23
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@AlbertoMartín Anyway, I've inserted a sometimes in my answer to make it a bit clearer.– GorpikCommented Aug 17, 2015 at 6:24
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That's true when you talk about mankind, but NEVER when you talk about a person, as you state. Even if you insert the "sometimes", it's wrong. In your example: "He visto un hombre en la calle" The person CANNOT be a woman, you are wrong, I'm sorry. Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 7:15
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@AlbertoMartín That's what I say: He visto un hombre en la calle refers to a male person. Anyway, I see your point. I wil rewrite my last paragraph.– GorpikCommented Aug 17, 2015 at 7:29