acusación

Forms

acusación f (plural acusaciones)^[1] Old Spanish wrote acusaçión, accusación and acusasión; the spelling with ⟨cc⟩ is not found after the 13th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin accūsātiō (“accusation, indictment”), the action noun of accūsō (“to accuse”), which is formed ad- (“to”) + causa (“cause; lawsuit”).^[3][1][4][5] Wiktionary calls it a learned borrowing.^[1] The BDELC lists it among the derivatives of acusar, which Corominas sees no firm reason to call a learned word, and DICCA-XV also treats the noun as formed on the verb.^[6][7][8] The same Latin noun is French accusation and Italian accusazione.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TDHLE's first quotation is from the Becerro of the monastery of Benevivere, of about 1220–1230: El frayre que so frayre denostare non por accusación segund el mandamiento de la regla … sea batidu de disciplinas “the friar who insults his brother, not by way of accusation as the rule commands, … shall be beaten with the discipline”.^[2] The BDELC dates the word to the third quarter of the 13th century, and the CDH's first hit is the Fuero Juzgo of about 1250–1260.^[6][9]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's Partidas (1256–1263) define it as the charge that one man brings against another before the judge, accusing him of some wrong, and also use it for the action to annul a marriage.^[2] In Alfonso's astronomical works acusation is a term for the opposition of the planets.^[10] Nebrija gave Latin accusatio, delatio, criminatio and incusatio for different kinds of accusation, and Covarrubias defined it as the claim brought against someone.^[2]

The Diccionario de Autoridades noted that the word should by its origin be written with ⟨cc⟩, as old books did, but that usage had dropped one ⟨c⟩.^[2] The Academy has defined it as the act of accusing since 1726, adding “or accusing oneself” in 1884.^[2][11] Modern law also uses it for the prosecution, the party who brings the charge.^[3][12]

Timeline

• c. 1220–1230 – the Becerro of Benevivere has accusación.^[2]
• 1251–1255 – Alfonso X's Fuero Real writes accusatión.^[9]
• 1256–1263 – the Partidas define the legal charge.^[2]
• 1277 – Alfonso X's astronomy uses acusation for the opposition of planets.^[10]
• 1330 – the Libro de buen amor uses it in a mock lawsuit.^[2]
• 1495 – Nebrija gives its Latin equivalents.^[2]
• 1550 – first record from the Americas, in Panama.^[13]
• 1726 – the Diccionario de Autoridades comments on the dropped ⟨cc⟩.^[2]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin accusatio.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. An accusation; the act of accusing someone or oneself: Rechazó con firmeza la acusación de su vecino.^[3][1]
2. (law) The request before a criminal court for a conviction, backed by evidence that proves a crime and overcomes the presumption of innocence of the accused.^[3]
3. (law) The prosecution: the person or persons who bring the charge.^[3][14]

Related words

• acusar
• acusado
• acusador
• causa
• Latin accūsātiō

Usage notes

Acusación popular is the right of any person, under the conditions of the law, to bring a criminal action without having been harmed by the offence.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. acusación
3. ^ a b c d e f 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. acusación
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. acusación
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. acusar
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 47
8. ^ 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. acusación
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. acusación
10. ^ a b 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. acusación
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 19
12. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. acusación
13. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. acusación
14. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. acusación