aderezar

Forms

aderezar (first-person singular present aderezo, first-person singular preterite aderecé, past participle aderezado)^[1] Old Spanish wrote adereçar, aderesçar, and had the contracted adrezar, adreçar; the contracted forms are recorded in literature down to the 17th century, and in the 20th century still in Mexico City and Navarre.^[2][3] In the old language the ⟨ç⟩ was voiceless, as in Nebrija.^[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish a- + derezar (“to direct, put straight”).^[4][3][5][6] The old verb continues Vulgar Latin *dīrēctiāre (“to direct, to set straight”), formed on dīrēctus (“straight”), the past participle of dīrigō (“to direct, set in line”).^[3][5][1] Wiktionary and García de Diego also allow a Vulgar Latin verb with the prefix already joined, *addīrēctiāre, as Cunha does for Portuguese.^[1][7][8] The Latin verb is a compound of regō (“to rule, guide”).^[6]

The contracted form was widespread, not only in eastern texts such as the Poema de Yúçuf and Martí's Alfarache, which agree with Catalan, but also in the Vida de San Ildefonso, the Celestina and Quevedo's Buscón.^[3] The same Latin verb is French dresser, Italian drizzare, Catalan dreçar and, with the prefix, Catalan adreçar, Italian addirizzare and Portuguese adereçar; English address is related.^{[9][1][10][11]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, known from a 13th-century copy), in the contracted form and the sense “to turn, direct”: Adreço sus fazes al desiert “he turned his face to the desert”.^[12] Corominas's first records are the Bocados de oro and Alfonso X's Setenario, of the mid-13th century.^[3][5] In the Estoria de España (1270–1284) the Cid hopes that God will leave Valencia to him if he aderesçar sus cosas “sets its affairs in order”.^[13][12]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is “to direct, guide, set right”: in the old chronicles armies aderezaron against the enemy, and travellers aderezó su camino “set off on his way”.^[2][14] From it came “to prepare, make ready”: in the Castigos (1292–1293) an empress has distaffs aderezar, and in the Gran conquista de Ultramar (c. 1295) the armies aderezáronse para pelear “made ready to fight”.^[15] Nebrija has both: Latin apparo and praeparo, and dirigo for straightening what is crooked.^[16]

Autoridades (1726) defines it as to adorn and polish, to mend, and to season or clean up, of food, a road, a house or a horse.^[17] The Academy marked the sense “to direct” as antiquated from 1770 on, and in 1884 added the doctoring of wines and liquors and the dressing of fabrics with gum.^[18][2][19] Today the commonest use is seasoning food, and by extension adding touches to something to make it more attractive.^[20][21] The derived noun aderezo appears as a Castilianism, “sweets prepared for dessert”, in a Valencian dictionary of 1575;^[12] Zaccaria's derivation of Italian attrezzo from it is rejected by Corominas, who follows the REW in taking the Italian word from Old French.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (in a 13th-century copy) has adreço “he turned”.^[12]
• mid-13th century – the Bocados de oro and the Setenario, Corominas's first records.^[3][5]
• 1270–1284 – the Estoria de España, the first record without a later copy.^[12][13]
• 1292–1293 – the Castigos use it for “to prepare”.^[15]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija translates it with Latin apparo, praeparo and dirigo.^[16]
• 1528 – the first record from the Americas, a locksmith's repair in Nicaragua.^[22]
• 1591 – Percyvall glosses it with Latin dirigo.^[2]
• 1726 – Autoridades records the senses “adorn”, “mend” and “season”.^[17]
• 1770 – the Academy marks the sense “to direct” as antiquated.^[18]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the doctoring of drinks and the dressing of fabrics.^[19]

Meanings

Verb

1. To adorn, embellish, make neat; also reflexive.^[4][21]
2. To cook; to season or dress food: Aderezó las lentejas con pimentón y comino.^[4][1][20]
3. To prepare or make ready a house, a room or another place; also reflexive.^[4]
4. To mend or repair something.^[4]
5. To doctor drinks such as wines and liquors with other ingredients, to improve them or make them resemble other drinks.^[4][21]
6. To dress fabrics with gum or other substances to give them body.^[4][21]
7. (dated) To guide, direct; also reflexive.^[4][1]
8. To embellish an action or account with something that adds charm: Aderezó la charla con recuerdos de su infancia.^[4][20]

Word family

• aderezo

Related words

• derecho
• derezar
• enderezar
• directo
• Portuguese adereçar
• French dresser

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. aderezar
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 54
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. aderezar
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. aderezar
6. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. addirectiare
8. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 105
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. dresser
10. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. dreçar
11. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon
12. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE
13. ^ 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)
14. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1929), Vocabulario medieval castellano, Madrid: Librería y Casa Editorial Hernando, p. 29
15. ^ a b Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 135
16. ^ a b 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
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 82
18. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1770), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 2nd ed., vol. I: A–B, Madrid: Joachín Ibarra
19. ^ 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. 21
20. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial
21. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos
22. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies