aún

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish ahú, inherited from Latin adhūc (“up to now; still”).^[2][3][4][1] Old Spanish and Old Aragonese texts have adú (early 13th century, and a document of 1262) and the form above (a document of 1284); under the influence of adverbs and particles ending in ⟨-n⟩, such as bien, sin, non and según, it took its present form, as así became popular asín.^[2][3][5] The reduced forms an and on are found above all in pastoral poets such as Juan del Encina and Torres Naharro.^[2]

The Latin adverb was one of the few Latin words of more than one syllable stressed on the last.^[2] It is a fusion of the phrase ad (“to”) hūc (“hither”), “up to here”.^[1][6] Its classical sense was “until now”, but Livy and Lucan also used it of the past and the future, and authors of colloquial Latin such as Petronius used it with the modern Spanish sense.^[2] Catalan àdhuc (“even”) is the same word taken over in a semi-learned form.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, known from a 14th-century copy) has the word several times.^[8][2] With the subjunctive it expresses a wish, as in Aún vea el día que de mí ayades algo “may I yet see the day when you have some reward from me”.^[8][9] It also has the sense “even”: e aun demás los cuerpos e las almas “and even, besides, their bodies and souls”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The Auto de los Reyes Magos (c. 1180) has the temporal sense in Herod's words ¡Aún non só io morto! “I am not dead yet!”.^[10] Alfonso X's prose uses it for “still, yet”, “nevertheless” and as an emphatic “even”.^[11] The compound aunque “although” appears in Berceo; the Cid still writes aun and que apart.^[2][8] Covarrubias gave Latin adhuc, etiam and nunc as its equivalents, and Autoridades the senses “still”, “also” and “nevertheless”.^[12][13] Cuervo explained the temporal sense as “up to now”, carried over to a point in the past or the future.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses aun in the senses “yet” and “even”.^[8][10]
• c. 1180 – ¡Aún non só io morto! in the Auto de los Reyes Magos.^[10]
• early 13th century – the form adú in Aragonese texts.^[2][3]
• 1284 – ahú in an Aragonese document.^[2][3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija renders it by Latin adhuc and etiamnum.^[15]
• 1611 – Covarrubias equates it with Latin adhuc, etiam and nunc.^[12]
• 1726 – Autoridades gives the senses “still”, “also” and “nevertheless”.^[13]

Meanings

Adverb

1. still, yet: up to a given moment: Aún no ha llegado el autobús.^[4][16][1]
2. Nevertheless, even so: Le dieron todo y aún se quejaba.^[4]
3. Even, still more, for emphasis, especially with comparatives: Hoy hace aún más calor.^[4][16]
4. (written aun) even, including: Aun lloviendo, salió a correr.^[4][17][1]
5. (written aun) Not even, with a negative: No me queda ni aun la mitad.^[4]

Word family

• aunque

Related words

• Latin adhūc
• Catalan àdhuc

Usage notes

Aún and aun are one word, written with or without the accent according to the meaning.^[4][1] With the accent it means “still, yet” and can be replaced by todavía, and it is usually pronounced in two syllables; without the accent it means “even”, like hasta, incluso or siquiera, and is pronounced as one syllable.^[16][17][4] Wiktionary marks the use of either spelling in the other's sense as incorrect.^[1] The phrase aun cuando means “even if, although”.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 413
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. aún
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. aun
5. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. aún
6. ^ a b 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. 1, 51
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 211
8. ^ a b c d Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. aun
9. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. mí
10. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. aun
11. ^ Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. aun
12. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 247
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 486
14. ^ Cuervo, Rufino José (1886–1893), Diccionario de construcción y régimen de la lengua castellana, vols. I–II (A–D), París: A. Roger y F. Chernoviz, p. 1, 779
15. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. aun
16. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. aún
17. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. aun