amenaza

Forms

amenaza f (plural amenazas)^[1] Old Spanish had both amenaza and the older menaza, in Berceo, the Libro de Alexandre and the Primera Crónica General; the ⟨z⟩ was voiced.^[2] Other old spellings are amenaça and amenasa.^[3][4]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Vulgar Latin minācia (“threat”); the oldest Spanish form is menaza.^[2][5][6][1] The initial ⟨a-⟩ comes from the verb amenazar, helped by a misdivision of ⟨la menaza⟩, ⟨una menaza⟩.^[2] minācia, already in Plautus, comes from mināx (“threatening”) and only indirectly from minae (“threats”).^[2][1]

The same Latin word is Portuguese ameaça, Catalan amenaça, French menace, Italian minaccia and Sardinian minatta.^[7][1] Portuguese and Catalan also once had forms without ⟨a-⟩ (meaça, menaça), and Coromines explains the Catalan ⟨a-⟩ by the influence of the verb, as in Spanish.^[8][9]

minae meant both “threats” and the projecting parts of a wall; de Vaan derives it from Proto-Italic *menā (“a part which sticks out”) and Proto-Indo-European *m(e)n-eh₁-, and Wiktionary from *men- (“to stand out”).^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Berceo's Loores de Nuestra Señora (c. 1230–1264), of preachers who spoke tongues they had never heard: predicavan la fe a guisa de fardidos, / non temien amenazas, tant eran encendidos “they preached the faith like bold men, they did not fear threats, so fired were they”.^[3][11] The Espéculo of Alfonso X (before 1260) is the first record without a later copy: por mjedo de amenaza “for fear of a threat”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the Alfonsine laws the plural names the gains the powerful take by intimidation: lo que ganan los omnes poderosos por amenazas.^[12] Nebrija (c. 1495) gives Latin minae and comminatio.^[13]

Autoridades defines it as the act or words meant to frighten another, and cites Saavedra Fajardo: Ninguna amenaza mayor que un silencio mudo “no threat is greater than a mute silence”.^[14] Modern dictionaries add a thing or person that is a possible source of danger, and in law the plural names the crime of intimidating someone with the announcement of serious harm.^[6][15]

Timeline

• c. 1230–1264 – Berceo's Loores de Nuestra Señora has amenazas.^[3][2]
• before 1260 – amenaza in the Espéculo of Alfonso X.^[11]
• c. 1289 – the Primera Crónica General compares the Christians' shouts to thunder and sus amenazas de los relánpagos.^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija: Amenazas. minae, comminatio.^[13]
• 1549 – the first record from the Americas, in New Granada.^[16]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades: the act or words meant to frighten another.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of threatening.^[6]
2. A threat, a word or deed with which one threatens: una amenaza de muerte.^[6][1]
3. A menace, a person or thing that may cause danger or harm.^[1][15][17]
4. (law, in the plural) The crime of intimidating someone by announcing serious harm to them or their family.^[6]

Word family

• amenazar
• amenazador
• amenazante

Related words

• conminar
• Latin minae
• Portuguese ameaça

Usage notes

Amenaza is also the third person singular present of amenazar.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 242
3. ^ 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. amenaza
4. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. amenaza
5. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. amenaza
6. ^ a b c d e 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. amenaza
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. minacia
8. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 213
9. ^ 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. 5, 568
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. amenaza
12. ^ 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. amenaza
13. ^ 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. 286
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 267
15. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. amenaza
16. ^ 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. amenaza
17. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. amenaza