adorable

Forms

adorable m or f (masculine and feminine plural adorables)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin adōrābilis (“worthy of adoration”),^[2][1][3] formed of adōrō (“to worship”) and the suffix -bilis;^[4] the Latin adjective occurs in Apuleius.^[4][5] Autoridades already named the Latin adjective as its source.^[6] Spanish adorar is recorded about 1140.^[7]

The same Latin word is French adorable, Catalan adorable, Italian adorabile, Portuguese adorável and Romanian adorabil.^[1][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first record is the Spanish translation of Eiximenis's Libro de las donas, made before 1448, which calls divine bliss amable, deseable, onrrable & loable & adorable.^[10] Every early record is religious: the TDHLE's first is a Dios adorable in a poem of about 1486–1489, and in 1512 Hernán Núñez, commenting on Mena, explains it as the one worthy of being adored and honoured, namely God almighty.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades (1726) defined the word as what is worthy of veneration and reverence, and the Academy kept “worthy of adoration” from 1770 to 1956.^[6][3] In 18th-century Lima it still qualified the Sacrament and divine providence.^[11] The secular, affectionate use appears in poetry of the late 18th century: Jovellanos (1768–1778) speaks of la más bella y adorable ninfa.^[3] By 1839 Gómez de Avellaneda could call a young cousin una criatura adorable.^[3] The DRAE of 2001 gives “charming” as a second sense,^[12] and Moliner and Vox give only this sense: a person, or a gesture, that inspires affection.^[13][14]

Timeline

• before 1448 – the translation of the Libro de las donas.^[10]
• c. 1486–1489 – Dios adorable in coplas added to Mena's Laberinto.^[3]
• 1512 – Hernán Núñez glosses the word in his commentary on Mena.^[3][6]
• 1571 – Molina's Spanish–Nahuatl vocabulary, the first record from the Americas.^[11][3]
• 1726 – Autoridades: “worthy of veneration and reverence”.^[6]
• 1768–1778 – Jovellanos uses it of a beautiful nymph.^[3]
• 1839 – Gómez de Avellaneda: una criatura adorable.^[3]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin etymology.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Worthy of adoration (adoración).^[2][1]
2. adorable, charming, lovable: Tienen un cachorro adorable.^[2][1][13]

Related words

• adoración
• adorar
• orar
• Latin adōrābilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. adorable
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. adorable
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 91
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. orar
8. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. adorable
9. ^ Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte
10. ^ 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. adorable
11. ^ a b 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. adorable
12. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. adorable
13. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. adorable
14. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. adorable
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 23