andar

Forms

andar (first-person singular present ando, first-person singular preterite anduve, past participle andado)^[1] The preterite was regular or had the forms andido, andidieron in Old Spanish (Cantar de mio Cid, Berceo); Autoridades says that andó was once used for anduvo.^[2][3][4][5] Regular forms such as andé and andara are still heard in Costa Rica, Yucatán and Andalusia.^[5][6][7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *amlāre (“to walk”), a careless Romance pronunciation of Latin ambulō (“to walk”), according to the DCECH and the DLE.^[8][9][10] Wiktionary takes it from the early Medieval Latin andāre, attested from 801.^[1] The verb was worn down by its very frequent use, in commands and in modal phrases, and because late Latin texts and the Romance languages use it only in the forms stressed on the ending, beside vādō (“to go”) in the others; this explains the irregular forms it took in Romance.^[8]

The Romance verbs of the same meaning are Portuguese andar, Asturian andar, Catalan anar, Occitan anar, French aller and Italian andare.^[8][9] The DCECH derives the French verb directly from that form, and the Catalan and Occitan verbs from a further, assimilated form *amnāre, which an inscription from Carthage attests in the perfect.^[8] The Spanish, Portuguese and Italian verbs may come from it by dissimilation, as legunde (“legume”) came from an older legumne, or straight from the first form, the /l/ taking on the closure of the /m/.^[8][9]

Meyer-Lübke (REW) and Wartburg instead derive the forms with -nd- from a Vulgar Latin *ambitāre (“to go round”), from ambiō (“to go round”), and García de Diego and the Tentative Dictionary follow them.^[8][11][12] Corominas rejects this etymology: it explains only the forms of Castilian and its western neighbour regularly, and the Italian verb, found in a document of 801 and in southern Italian charters of 822 and 824, is too early for it.^[8] Gómez de Silva also favours this etymology.^[13]

The Latin verb is formed with ambi- (“around”) on a verb continuing *ala- (“to wander”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elh₂- (“to wander”); it is related to Ancient Greek ἀλάομαι (aláomai, “to wander, roam”).^[14][1] The origin of the preterite ⟨anduve⟩ is unclear;^[1] Wiktionary thinks it was most likely modelled on the preterite stem ⟨hub-⟩ of haber, as in estar and tener.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Glosas Silenses of the late 10th century gloss Latin exercuerit with andat, of a woman who practises procuring: the verb means “to be engaged in”.^[3][8] The DCECH also cites a document of 982.^[8] In the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) it means “to travel”, especially on horseback: mucho avemos de andar “we have far to go”.^[15][2]

Semantic evolution

Already in the Cid the verb also means “to traverse”, “to spread” (andidieron los pregones “the proclamations went round”), “to be, live” and “to be busy with”, and is used with a gerund or a participle.^[2][12] Alfonso X's prose uses it for a device that moves to do its work, for “to be” (andara alegre “he will be happy”) and for “to be found, exist”.^[16] Nebrija glossed it with Latin ambulo, pergo and gradior.^[17] Covarrubias in 1611 defined it as an animal moving on its feet from one place to another, and proposed either ante ire or a corruption of ambulare.^[18] Autoridades derived it from ambulare through amblar, or from Italian andare, and recorded many phrases such as andar a caza de alguna cosa “to pursue something”.^[4][19] Cuervo's dictionary arranges its many uses in ten groups.^[20]

The nominalised infinitive el andar, los andares “gait”, was defined by the Academy in 1884 as andadura.^[21][1] In Mexico and Central America andar means “to go, travel”, and in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua also “to carry, have with one”.^[22] The Mexican ¡ándale! is used to urge someone on.^[23] The first record from the Americas is from Puerto Rico in 1513.^[24]

Timeline

• late 10th century – the Glosas Silenses have andat.^[3][8]
• 982 – a document cited by the DCECH.^[8]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses it for travelling and for being.^[15][2]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario has the senses “to go”, “to be” and “to exist”.^[16]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin ambulo.^[17]
• 1513 – the first record from the Americas, in Puerto Rico.^[24]
• 1611 – Covarrubias proposes his etymologies.^[18]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades derives it from ambulare and notes the old preterite andó.^[4]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary defines the noun andar.^[21]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of a living being: to walk, to go from one place to another on foot; also pronominal: Mi abuela anda una hora cada mañana.^[10][1]
2. To go or move from one place to another, also of things and vehicles; to ride (andar en bicicleta).^[10][1]
3. Of a machine or device: to work, to run: El ascensor lleva días sin andar.^[10][1]
4. To be in a certain state or situation: Últimamente anda muy cansado.^[10][1]
5. To be about, to exist (= haber).^[10]
6. To take part or be busy in something; also pronominal: andarse con rodeos.^[10][1]
7. Of time: to pass.^[10][1]
8. To act, behave; also pronominal.^[10]
9. andar a + plural noun: to fight with: andar a palos.^[10][1]
10. To be at a certain point or approximate age: Su padre anda por los sesenta.^[10]
11. With a gerund, of an activity done here and there: Anda contando que se va a Chile.^[10][1]
12. andar tras: to pursue something insistently; to look for someone in order to arrest them.^[10]
13. (colloquial) To put one's hands into something, to meddle.^[10][20]
14. andar con: to go out with, to date someone.^[1]
15. (Mexico, Central America) To go somewhere, travel;^[22][1] (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua) to carry, have with one.^[22][1]

Interjection

1. ¡anda!: expresses surprise; urges someone on; expresses glee at another's misfortune.^[10]

Noun

1. (often in the plural) Gait, way of walking; pace.^[25][1]
2. The speed at which one walks or moves.^[25]

Word family

• andador
• andadura
• andanza
• andante
• desandar
• andariego
• andarín
• andada
• andadera
• andamio
• andarríos
• bienandanza
• malandanza
• andurriales

Related words

• andamiaje
• ambular
• ambulante
• preámbulo
• Latin ambulō
• Catalan anar
• French aller

Usage notes

Phrases include andando el tiempo “in the course of time”, a largo andar and todo se andará.^[1][21] The proverb dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres “tell me who you go with and I will tell you who you are” uses the verb in the sense “to keep company with”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. 54
3. ^ a b c 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. andar
4. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 285
5. ^ a b Gagini, Carlos (1893), Diccionario de barbarismos y provincialismos de Costa Rica, San José: Tipografía Nacional, p. 47
6. ^ Ramos y Duarte, Félix (1895), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Imprenta de Eduardo Dublán, p. 43
7. ^ Alcalá Venceslada, Antonio (1951), Vocabulario andaluz, Madrid: Real Academia Española, p. 45
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 256
9. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. andar
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. andar
11. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. ambitare
12. ^ a b Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 36
13. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 64
14. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ 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. andar
16. ^ 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. andar
17. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 293
18. ^ 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. 175
19. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1
20. ^ a b 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, 453
21. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 72
22. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. andar
23. ^ García Icazbalceta, Joaquín (1899), Vocabulario de mexicanismos comprobado con ejemplos y comparado con los de otros países hispano-americanos, México: La Europea, p. s.v. andar
24. ^ 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. andar
25. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. andar