arrepentir

Forms

arrepentir (first-person singular present arrepiento, first-person singular preterite arrepentí, past participle arrepentido)^[1] The simple verb is Old Spanish repentirse (Cid) and, with the regular voicing, rependirse (Berceo, Juan Ruiz), also repintirse.^[2][3] The old preterite and participle repiso was formed after priso beside prender.^[2] Early forms of arrepentirse include arrepintier and arrepentier in the Fuero de Coria (early 13th century).^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from Old Spanish a- + repentir.^{[2][5][6][7][1]} The simple verb goes back to Late Latin repaenitere, recorded in late texts such as the Life of Saint Basil.^[2][5] Wiktionary reconstructs Vulgar Latin *repaenitīre, from the late variant paenitīre.^[1] The base is Latin paenitēre (“to cause regret”), with the intensive prefix re-.^[2][8] The DHLF notes that a popular form poenitere, influenced by poena (“penalty”), is recorded from the 7th century.^[8] Wiktionary connects the Latin verb tentatively with paene (“almost”).^[1]

The regular Castilian form was rependirse, and only that form explains the preterite repiso.^[2] The /t/ of repentirse is irregular in Castilian.^[2] Corominas puts it down to French influence through the monks of Cluny, or less probably to a semi-learned form.^[2][1] Portuguese arrepender and Catalan penedir-se escaped that influence.^[2] Elsewhere the word is Galician arrepentir, French repentir and Italian pentirsi.^[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The simple verb is already in the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy), where the Cid no·s' puede repentir, que casadas las ha amas “cannot go back on it, for he has married them both”.^[10][2] The first example of arrepentirse in the CDH is from the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (c. 1215, in a 14th-century copy): cuando el cativo que muere siente, essa ora se arrepiente “when the wretch feels that he is dying, at that hour he repents”.^[10] The DEMel finds it in the Fuero de Coria of the early 13th century, and Corominas dates it from the Calila of 1251.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb covers both regret for a sin and going back on a decision.^[6][10] The Fuero de Cáceres (c. 1234–1275) applies it to a buyer who has taken earnest money and backs out of the deal.^[10] The two forms competed through the Middle Ages, and Nebrija still wavered between repentirse and arrepentirse.^[2] Covarrubias (1611) explained the word as Italian pentirsi with the prefixes a- and re-, and noted the arrepentidas, repentant women who lived in convents.^[9] The Autoridades (1726) rejected the Italian origin in favour of Latin and described its irregular conjugation, me arrepiento, nos arrepintamos.^[11] Today it means to regret having done or not done something, and also to change one's mind or not keep a commitment.^[6][12]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has the simple verb repentir.^[10][2]
• c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar has rependirse.^[10]
• c. 1215 – se arrepiente in the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca.^[10]
• 1251 – the Calila, Corominas's first record of arrepentirse.^[2][5]
• 1256 – first record of the noun arrepentimiento.^[5]
• 1330–1343 – Juan Ruiz uses arrepentir both as a verb and as a noun meaning “repentance”.^[13]
• 1520 – first record in the Americas, in Cuba.^[14]
• 1611 – Covarrubias derives it from Italian pentirsi.^[9]
• 1726 – the Autoridades describes the conjugation me arrepiento, nos arrepintamos.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy first gives an etymology, from a, re and Latin poenitere.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive, with de) To regret having done or not done something: Se arrepiente de no haber aceptado aquel trabajo.^[6][12][1]
2. (reflexive) To repent of one's sins or faults.^[1][11]
3. (reflexive) To change one's mind; to back out of a commitment or promise.^[6][12]

Word family

• arrepentido
• arrepentimiento

Related words

• penitencia
• penitente
• Portuguese arrepender

Usage notes

The verb is almost always pronominal (arrepentirse); Wiktionary uses the page name arrepentir.^[1][6] It is conjugated like hervir: me arrepiento, se arrepintió.^[12][11] The participle arrepentido also serves as an adjective and noun, and Covarrubias records arrepentida for a fallen woman who had turned to God.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 353
3. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5610
4. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. arrepentir
5. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. arrepentirse
6. ^ a b c d e f 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. arrepentirse
7. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 86
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 220
10. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. arrepentirse
11. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 410
12. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. arrepentirse
13. ^ Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 51
14. ^ 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. arrepentir
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. 101