anunciación

Forms

anunciación f (plural anunciaciones)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin annuntiātiō (“announcement”), the Church Latin word for the angel's message to the Virgin.^[2][1][3] The Latin noun is formed from annūntiō (“to announce”) with the suffix -tiō, and the verb from ad- and nūntius (“messenger”).^[1][4][5] In Late Latin the noun meant an announcement or annunciation, and Medieval Latin used it for the Annunciation to Mary as well as for a report, a prophecy or a sermon.^[4][6]

Spanish took it as a learned word, beside the verb anunciar, which the BDELC dates to 1240.^[7][3] Old texts also spell it annunciación, closer to the Latin.^[3] The same Latin noun gave Portuguese anunciação, Catalan anunciació, French annonciation and Italian annunziazione.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The historical dictionary's first quotation is from the Fuero Juzgo of about 1250–1260, in a list of feast days: la Asumpción de Sancta María, e la Anunciación quando concebió del Santo Espíritu “the Assumption of Saint Mary, and the Annunciation, when she conceived by the Holy Spirit”.^[3] So the first sense on record is the feast and the mystery it celebrates.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the 15th century the word also had the general sense “announcement”: Hernando del Pulgar, about 1485, wrote that other prophets knew future things through the announcing of good angels.^[3][12] In the 16th and 17th centuries it could mean a public notice, such as the banns that had to come before a marriage, or a prophecy.^[3] The general sense is still listed first by the Academy, but the word is used almost only for the Annunciation and its feast, usually with a capital.^[13][2] From the 18th century it also named a painting or statue of the scene.^[3][14]

In the Americas the word appears from 1586, in a list of masses for the feasts of Our Lady in Guadalajara.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1250–1260 – the Fuero Juzgo lists the Annunciation among the feast days.^[3]
• 1380 – a work contract from Spain excludes the feast of the Anunciacion from the working days; this is the first CDH record that survives in a copy of its own time.^[12]
• c. 1485 – Hernando del Pulgar uses anunciación for an announcement made by angels.^[3]
• 1531 – Francisco de Osuna uses annunciación pública for the public notice of a marriage.^[3]
• 1586 – the first record from the Americas, in Guadalajara.^[15]
• 1767 – Terreros records the sense “image of the Annunciation”.^[3]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from Latin annuntiatio and the three senses: the act of announcing, the angel's message, and its feast.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of announcing (anunciar); an announcement (anuncio).^[2][13]
2. (Christianity, usually capitalised) The Annunciation: the message of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive the Son of God: el misterio de la Anunciación.^[2][1]
3. (Christianity, usually capitalised) The feast of the Annunciation, on 25 March.^[2][14]
4. (art) A painting or sculpture of the Annunciation.^[14][3]

Related words

• anunciar
• anuncio
• nuncio
• Latin annuntiātiō
• Portuguese anunciação

Usage notes

In the religious senses the word is usually written with a capital: la Anunciación.^[14][1] Anunciación is also a woman's given name and a surname.^[1][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. anunciación
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. anunciación
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ 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. anunciación
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nuncio
8. ^ a b Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 373
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 497
10. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. anunciació
11. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. anunciação
12. ^ 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. anunciación
13. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. anunciación
14. ^ a b c d Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. anunciación
15. ^ 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. anunciación
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 73