astilla

Forms

astilla f (plural astillas)^[1] Old Spanish also had the diphthongised form astiella, recorded in the plural astiellas in the 14th-century Libro de la montería of Alfonso XI.^[2][3] Navarrese has estilla and the Basque-area form astila;^[4] Autoridades lists the word under the spelling hastilla.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish astiella, inherited from Late Latin astella (“little splinter”).^[5][6][7][1] The Late Latin word, already found in the 5th century, is a diminutive of astula, a variant of classical assula (“splinter, chip”).^[5][6] Corominas leaves the origin of the variant to the Latinists, who explain it as a phonetic one, and sees no need for García de Diego's idea of a crossing with hasta (“spear, shaft”).^[5][8] The DHLF explains the change through a pronunciation *assla or *astla, which was refashioned with the diminutive suffix.^[9]

The same Late Latin word is Catalan estella, Asturian estiella, Aragonese estilla, Old Occitan astela and Old French astele, whose modern descendant is French attelle (“splint”).^{[3][10][9][11]} The Portuguese astilha and estilha were taken from Spanish.^[10][12]

The classical word is itself a diminutive of assis (“plank, board”).^[9][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that noun, whose further origin he leaves open: Pokorny's comparison with a word for “bone” cannot be right, because Latin has a different vowel in os (“bone”).^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the first record to about 1100, citing Menéndez Pidal's Orígenes del español.^[5][6] The earliest example in the CDH is in the fifth part of Alfonso X's General estoria (before 1284, in a 15th-century copy), where the word means the splinters of wood of a gallows: astillas de la forca “splinters of the gallows”.^[14] A Latin–Spanish glossary of about 1400 renders Latin arsula (for assula) as astilla.^[15]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word meant a thin piece broken or split off from wood, and the Academy later extended it to the fragments of flint and other minerals (1899).^[5][16] In the 15th century it was used for splinters of broken lances and ships' timbers: Pedro de Corral's chronicle (c. 1430) has lances flying en astillas “into splinters”, and Ayala (1402) speaks of astillas de barcas quebradas.^[14] In shipbuilding astilla named a rise given to the frame timbers over the keel, with the terms astilla muerta and astilla viva.^[4][17] From the word came astillero, the place where ships are built and repaired (1524).^[12]

A 1511 ordinance on cloth-making uses astilla for the comb of a loom, a sense the Academy marked as obsolete from 1770.^[18][7] In thieves' cant the word meant a card trick (the Academy, 1770–1899), later a share of loot (Besses, 1905) and a bribe (León, 1980).^[18][19][20] In Cuba it is colloquial for money.^[21][7]

Figuratively, astilla is what derives from a thing as a splinter from a stick: Autoridades records the proverb de tal palo, tal astilla “like stick, like splinter”, said of children who take after their parents.^[4][18] The phrase sacar astilla “to get some profit out of something” entered the Academy's dictionary in 1869.^[22][7]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – first record, according to Corominas.^[5][6]
• c. 1270 – the plural astiellas appears in the Historia troyana.^[2]
• before 1284 – Alfonso X's General estoria (in a 15th-century copy) has astillas.^[14]
• 1342–1350 – the Libro de la montería of Alfonso XI has the older form astiellas.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin assula for astilla de madera.^[23][24]
• 1511 – an ordinance on cloth-making uses astillas for the combs of a loom.^[18]
• 1524 – the derivative astillero “shipyard” is first recorded.^[12]
• 1529 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City: quebréme una astilla del brazo izquierdo.^[25]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it as a small thin piece split from wood, and notes that some derive it from asta.^[26]
• 1770 – the Academy records the proverb tal palo, tal astilla.^[18]
• 1884 – the Academy's first etymology derives it from astula, for assula.^[27]

Meanings

Noun

1. A splinter: a thin, sharp, irregular fragment that breaks off from wood, bone or a mineral when it is split or broken: Se le clavó una astilla en el pulgar.^[7][1]
2. (usually in the plural) kindling: small pieces of split wood for lighting a fire.^[1][28]
3. (Cuba, colloquial) money.^[7][21]
4. (obsolete) The comb or reed of a loom.^[7][28]

Word family

• astilloso
• astillar
• astillero
• estallar
• astillazo

Related words

• taller
• Latin assula
• Catalan estella
• French attelle

Usage notes

Common phrases are de tal palo, tal astilla “a chip off the old block”, and sacar astilla “to get something out of a deal”.^[1][7] The DLE also records ser alguien astilla del mismo palo “to be of the same party or disposition as another”, used in several American countries.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. astilla
3. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 761
4. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 131
5. ^ 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, 384
6. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. astilla
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. astilla
8. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 3, 766
9. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. attelle
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 740
11. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. estella
12. ^ a b c Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 63
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. astilla
15. ^ 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. 422
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 103
17. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 193
18. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (1770), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 2nd ed., vol. I: A–B, Madrid: Joachín Ibarra, p. 1, 370
19. ^ Besses, Luis (c. 1905), Diccionario de argot español o lenguaje jergal gitano, delincuente profesional y popular, Barcelona: Manuel Soler, p. 33
20. ^ León, Víctor (1980), Diccionario de argot español y lenguaje popular, Madrid: Alianza Editorial, p. s.v. astilla
21. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. astilla
22. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 80
23. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 298
24. ^ 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. astilla
25. ^ 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. astilla
26. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 234
27. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 112
28. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. astilla