aplauso

Forms

aplauso m (plural aplausos)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin applausus (“clapping, applause”), from applaudō (“to clap, applaud”) with the action-noun suffix -tus.^[2][3][4][1] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of aplaudir, first recorded in 1438.^[2][3] Gómez de Silva takes it from the Medieval Latin sense “applause”, the older sense being “the noise of a blow”, from the past participle of the verb.^[5] In Classical Latin the noun is rare: the OLD has it only for the beating of wings, in Statius.^[6]

The Latin verb is formed from plaudō (“to clap, pat”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *plh₂-u- (“palm of the hand, sole of the foot”).^[7][1] plausus (“clapping of hands, approval”) is from the same verb, and gave plauso.^[7][2] The Italian cognate is applauso.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Enrique de Villena, dedicating his translation of the Aeneid (1427–1428, in a copy of 1442), tells his patron that the praise of his work and the popular aplauso are due to him, the cause of the translation.^[9] The sense is public approval.^[9][10] Corominas's dates are 1570 in the Breve diccionario and 1615, in Cervantes, in the DCECH.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word appears in Bartolomé de las Casas, Luis de Granada and Pedro Mejía, for the acclaim of a crowd.^[9] Covarrubias in 1611 defines it as the approval of the whole people with smiling faces, joyful voices and clapping hands, and warns preachers against the “corrupt air” of applause.^[11] In Lope de Vega it can mean a solemn escort or retinue, and in Cervantes it once means a grave, solemn manner.^[2][12] The Academy in 1770 defined it as public approval or praise shown with signs of joy, and also praise given in words by one person to another.^[10] From 1884 its dictionary defines it simply as the action and effect of applauding.^[13][4] The first example from the Americas is from Mexico in 1575.^[14]

Timeline

• 1427–1428 – Enrique de Villena's translation of the Aeneid (in a copy of 1442).^[9]
• 1527–1550 – Bartolomé de las Casas, the earliest example in a contemporary copy.^[9]
• 1570 – the Breve diccionario's date.^[3]
• 1575 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico.^[14]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it and derives it from Latin plausus.^[11]
• 1615 – Cervantes, the DCECH's first record.^[2]
• 1770 – the Academy's dictionary defines it as public approval.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of applauding; applause, clapping: Al final del concierto hubo un largo aplauso.^[4][15][1]
2. The sound of clapping.^[15]
3. praise, approval: Su propuesta recibió el aplauso de todos.^[15][16]

Related words

• aplaudir
• plausible
• Latin applausus
• Italian applauso

Usage notes

Aplauso cerrado is unanimous, sustained applause;^[4][16] salva de aplausos is a burst of applause.^[4][16] Moliner gives plausible as the adjective for “worthy of applause”.^[16] Wiktionary lists the spelling applauso as a variant.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 299
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. aplaudir
4. ^ 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. aplauso
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 74
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 1, 127
9. ^ 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, p. s.v. aplauso
10. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1770), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 2nd ed., vol. I: A–B, Madrid: Joachín Ibarra, p. 1, 281
11. ^ 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. 194
12. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 104
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 85
14. ^ 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. aplauso
15. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. aplauso
16. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. aplauso