despullar

Forms

despullar (first-person singular present despullo, first-person singular preterite despullí, past participle despullat)^[1] Pronunciations with /j/ for /ʎ/, and with the consonant lost, are also recorded.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dēspoliō (“to plunder, rob; to strip”), a derivative of spoliō of the same meaning, which comes from spolium (“skin of an animal; booty, spoils”).^{[3][2][4][5][1]} The REW glosses the Latin verb both “to rob” and “to undress”, the two senses of its Romance outcomes.^[6]

The same word is Occitan despolhar, French dépouiller, Italian spogliare, Spanish despojar and Romanian despuia.^[6][1] The learned espoliar and espoli come from the simple Latin verb and noun.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines dates the first records to the 13th century, when the verb still had the wide range of its Latin model: the Vides de sants rosselloneses use it for the sun stripping itself of its rays, translating Latin te exuisti, and for Christ despoiling hell.^[3] In Llull's Llibre de contemplació the hands of man serve to dress and undress.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Llull already has both the transitive and the reflexive senses of taking off clothes (Christ stripped by the Jews, a man who undresses and gets into bed), together with figurative ones.^[7] Sant Vicent Ferrer, the Tirant lo Blanc and the Història de Jacob Xalabín use it for undressing, and the Històries troianes of Jaume Conesa for depriving someone of a kingdom.^[8] Despullament is recorded in 1272, in the Costums de Tortosa, despull in Llull and despulla about 1400.^[4]

The DCVB records rural senses: of trees losing their leaves, of vines shedding their flowers as the grapes set, and of wine losing its colour.^[2] Labèrnia (1839) gives first the legal sense of depriving someone of possessions by a court sentence.^[9]

Timeline

• 13th century – the Vides de sants rosselloneses;^[3][7] Llull's Llibre de contemplació.^[3][7]
• 1272 – despullament in the Costums de Tortosa.^[4]
• 1344 – first record in the CICA corpus, in the ordinances of the court of Peter the Ceremonious.^[10]
• About 1400 – Sant Vicent Ferrer's sermons: despullave la.^[8]
• 1839 – Labèrnia's dictionary gives the legal sense first.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To undress, take off someone's clothes or what covers a person or thing;^[11][5][1] (reflexive) to undress oneself: Es va despullar i es va ficar a la dutxa.^[11][5][1]
2. (by extension) To strip something of its covering: La tramuntana ha despullat de fulles els plàtans.^[11][5]
3. To take off a garment: despullar-se l'abric.^[11]
4. To dispossess, strip someone of what belongs to them;^[11][1] (law) to deprive of property by a court sentence.^[11][1]
5. (reflexive) To give something up of one's own will, such as power or authority.^[12][2]
6. despullar un sant per vestir-ne un altre: to take from one to give to another who has no greater need.^[11]

Word family

• despullament
• despulla
• despull

Related words

• espoliar
• espoli
• Latin dēspoliō
• French dépouiller
• Spanish despojar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. despullar
3. ^ a b c d Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 3, 97
4. ^ a b c d Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 278
5. ^ a b c d Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. despullar
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2602
7. ^ a b c d Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. despullar
8. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. despullar
9. ^ a b Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. despullar
10. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. despullar
11. ^ a b c d e f g Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. despullar
12. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. despullar