Questions tagged [etimología]

Origen de las palabras, razón de su existencia, significación y forma. // The origins of terms and their development through history.

El idioma es algo en constante evolución. Desde los principios del lenguaje hasta nuestros días, las palabras han ido cambiando, modificándose y adaptándose a cada nuevo tiempo. La etimología es el estudio del origen de las palabras, de la cronología de su incorporación a un idioma, así como de la fuente y los detalles de sus cambios estructurales de forma y de significado. Las preguntas etiquetadas como deben tratar de buscar el origen tanto de palabras como de expresiones del español, o de comprender la evolución de estas.


Languages are in constant evolution. From the beginnings of language up to the present time, words have been changing, getting modified and adapted in each new historical period. Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. Thus, questions tagged as should seek to understand the origin of some word or expression, or how it has evolved over time.


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How did "asistir" and "atender" become opposite of their cognates in English?

"Atender" is translated as to assist in Spanish, while "asistir" is translated as "to attend". These words seem to be cognates of each other, but have opposite meanings when translated. How did this occur? Are there any research articles/ journal…
Paul
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Origin of contigo and similar "contractions"

What's the history of the words contigo, conmigo, etc? They're treated like contractions for con ti and con mi, respectively, but they actually make the word longer rather than shorter, as contractions ought to do. It occurs to me that there are a…
Flimzy
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¿Cuál es la etimología de "sin embargo"?

La frase "sin embargo" se traduce como "however" en inglés, pero no la entiendo. La palabra "sin" significa "without", y la palabra "embargo" significa "ban" o lo mismo que la palabra inglesa "embargo". Así que a mí me parece que la traducción…
user682
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What is the etymology of the word 'subir'? / ¿Cuál es la etimología de la palabra 'subir'?

For many years I've been asking myself this single and simple question : why subir, that should logically come from the latin sub-ire that we can translate into go down in English, does mean go up in Spanish!? What is then the real etymology of this…
mwoua
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What is the etymology of 'gafas'?

I was curious as to the etymology of the Spanish word gafas, meaning glasses (spectacles). Wiktionary only vaguely offers the following, and other searches have been fruitless. Maybe related to French faire gaffe ‎(“pay attention”), or German…
BladorthinTheGrey
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Does "francotiradores" have a historical link to France?

I see in the news that the Spanish word for "sniper" is "francotirador" Is there some historical connection between this and France/Frenchman? Literally it means "French shooter", right? Were snipers first used by the French foreign legion, or what?
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How come the subject is omitted in Spanish?

You can find hundreds of sources where they say that the subject can be dropped if it doesn't add any additional information. As "voy" is the 1st person singular conjugation of "ir", you know that the subject is "yo". That sounds reasonable when…
Em1
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¿Por qué la palabra "estrella" lleva una "r" si viene del latin "stella"?

Según el diccionario de la RAE, estrella procede del latin stella, sin r. ¿Cómo adquirió esa r? No parece que sea por dificultades en la pronunciación sin la r, ya que existen las palabras estela o estelar [aunque tienen etimologías diferentes].
Belinsky
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¿Existe relación entre la palabra "OJO" y su apariencia?

Me parece interesante que la palabra ojo aparente la forma de dos ojos y una nariz en medio. ¿Es esto mera coincidencia o la palabra se creó intencionalmente de esta forma para que tuviera este aspecto?
Alfredo Osorio
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Why does “a pesar de” signify “in spite of”?

In Spanish and Portuguese, a pesar de means in (de)spite of. But in both languages, pesar has never meant spite – see quotation below on the etymology of spite. pesar hails From Old Spanish pesar, from Vulgar Latin *pēsāre, from Latin pēnsāre, …
user10864
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Does "carné de conducir" involve meat?

I'm an English developer working on some multilingual software, and I'm just loading in some translations for Spanish (which I believe have been translated by an actual Spanish person). One of the terms is driving licence. This has come back as…
Simon
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¿Cuál es el origen del uso de la palabra "codo" como sinónimo de tacaño?

Aquí en México utilizamos la palabra codo como sinónimo de tacaño. ¿Cuál es su origen? ¿qué relación tiene con el codo (parte del cuerpo)? codo, da. (De codo). adj. Ec., El Salv., Guat., Hond. y Méx. tacaño (‖ miserable). Ejemplo: Él es tan…
Alfredo Osorio
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What is the meaning of the word KOS in the conquestadores stirrup shoe?

Most of the brass Conquistadores Stirrups sold in eBay probably are simple and cheap imitates, even if they have been created as worn out shoes with lots of repairs. I remember the stirrup shoes my mother acquired around 1960 in Caracas, Venezuela…
jwr-47
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What's the function of the letter h?

What's the function of the letter h in Spanish? Even though it's not pronounced there must be a reason of its existence. I mean the case when the letter h it's not accompanied by the c (ch).
Alfredo Osorio
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How did "grifo" become the Spanish for "faucet"?

While studying the etymology of the word, I found that it comes from gryphus, the Latin for griffin. In fact griffin also happens to be one meaning of grifo. And as we all know, griffin is a mythical beast with the body of a lion and the head of an…
TheLearner
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