asistente

Forms

asistente m (plural asistentes, feminine asistente or asistenta, feminine plural asistentes or asistentas)^[1] The older spelling is assistente, used by Nebrija and Autoridades.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin assistens (“standing by, present”), the present participle of assistō (“to stand near, attend”).^[4][5][2] The DLE and Wikcionario analyse it as from Spanish asistir + -nte.^[6][7] The participle is recorded in the 15th century, while the DCECH finds the verb asistir only in the second half of the 16th.^[8][4]

The Latin verb is formed from ad- and sistō (“to stand, be placed”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DME's earliest record is in Villena's Arte cisoria (1420), where it means “present at an event”: querer fuesen presentes e asistentes “to want them to be present and in attendance”.^[4] DICCA-XV dates its first record 1423 and the CORDE's 1407–1463.^[2] Nebrija (c. 1495) uses it for a man who assists another as an adviser, Latin assessor, and for a woman who assists, Latin assestrix.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Seville asistente was the title of the corregidor, and a 1536 text from Lima already mentions the asystente of Seville;^[9] Autoridades adds that Santiago and Marchena had officers of the same name, and records the assistants of the general in some religious orders.^[9][3] The Academy's 1770 dictionary added each of the two bishops who assist at the consecration of another.^[10] Gaspar y Roig recorded the soldier assigned to an officer's service and the woman who served temporarily in a household.^[11] In the Quijote it still means “present”.^[12]

In Colombia and Puerto Rico it has meant a household servant.^[13] Puerto Rican usage for a junior professional assisting another is counted as an adapted anglicism, after assistant.^[14] Recent senses are the assistant referee in football and the software wizard that guides a user.^[15][6]

Timeline

• 1420 – Villena's Arte cisoria uses it for “present, in attendance”.^[4]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija: assistente varón, Latin assessor.^[2]
• 1536 – first record from the Americas, in Lima, for the corregidor of Seville.^[9]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades records “present”, the officer of Seville and the assistant in religious orders.^[3]
• 1770 – the Academy adds the assisting bishop.^[10]
• 1853–1855 – Gaspar y Roig records the officer's soldier-servant.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That attends or cares for the sick: el equipo asistente del hospital.^[6]
2. That attends or is present at a meeting or event; attending.^[6][1]

Noun

1. An assistant: a person who does the work of assisting in any trade or post.^[6][1]
2. (Catholicism) Each of the two bishops who assist the consecrating bishop at the consecration of another.^[6]
3. (religion) In some orders, a religious appointed to assist the general in governing the order and its provinces.^[6]
4. (historical) An official who in some Spanish towns, such as Seville, Santiago and Marchena, had the powers of the corregidor.^[6][3]
5. (military, historical) A soldier assigned to the personal service of an officer; an orderly, batman.^[6][16]
6. (computing) A program that guides an inexperienced user; a wizard.^[6]
7. (sports) An assistant referee, a linesman.^[15]
8. (feminine asistenta, Spain) A woman who does housework in a home where she does not live, usually paid by the hour.^[6]

Related words

• asistencia
• asistir
• existir
• Latin assistō

Usage notes

Asistente social is a social worker.^[6][16] The feminine is asistente or asistenta; the DLE gives the household and convent senses under asistenta.^[1][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. asistente
3. ^ 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, 447
4. ^ a b c d e 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. 411
5. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. asistente
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. asistente
7. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 824
9. ^ a b c 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. asistente
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1770), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 2nd ed., vol. I: A–B, Madrid: Joachín Ibarra, p. 1, 361
11. ^ a b Gaspar y Roig (eds.) (1853–1855), Biblioteca ilustrada de Gaspar y Roig: Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Imprenta y Librería de Gaspar y Roig, p. 1, 256
12. ^ 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, 709
13. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 146
14. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. asistente
15. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. asistente
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. asistente