avispa

Forms

avispa f (plural avispas)^[1] Old Spanish wrote abiespa, viespa and biespa.^[2][3] From the 14th century it wrote abispa, and the spelling with ⟨b⟩ was the usual one into Nebrija's time.^[3][2][4] The diphthong is still heard in aviespa in many villages of Cantabria, Burgos, Soria and Álava;^[5] Extremadura has vispa and obispa, Asturian aviéspara.^[3][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish abiespa, inherited from Latin vespa (“wasp”), with an initial ⟨a⟩ taken from abeja “bee”.^[3][6][7][1] García de Diego first pointed to this influence, which shows also in the ⟨b⟩ that Old Spanish usually wrote and that Judeo-Spanish still pronounces, as in Ladino besba;^[1] Portuguese has partly bespa beside Portuguese vespa.^[3] The diphthong of the Old Spanish form was later reduced to /i/ by a well-known sound rule;^[1] Wiktionary compares víspera and níspero.^[3][1] Corominas explains forms with /r/ such as Asturian aviéspara and Basque espara (“horsefly”) by an inserted /r/, not by a diminutive *vespula, which is found neither in Latin nor in Romance.^[3]

The same Latin word is Catalan vespa, Italian vespa, French guêpe and Romanian viespe.^[8][9] Wiktionary names vespa as its learned doublet.^[1]

The Latin word comes from *wospā, by metathesis from *wopsā, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wobʰseh₂ (“wasp”).^[1][10] Its cognates include Lithuanian vapsvà, Old English wæps and Old High German wefsa.^[10][11] A link with the root *webʰ- (“to weave”) is often proposed; de Vaan finds it doubtful, though the paper nests of wasps could have been seen as woven.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is the Libro de Alexandre of about 1250, with abiespa in one manuscript and viespa in the other.^[3][6] About the same time Alfonso X's Lapidario says that the stone taroc helps against the poisons of animals that are not very venomous, assi como arannas & biespas & tauanos “such as spiders, wasps and horseflies”.^[2][12] The sense is the insect, as today.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Medieval writers classed the wasp with bees, flies and other small winged creatures: Juan Manuel placed abispas among those that are between beasts and birds.^[13][2] Palencia (1490) described it as a small flying animal with a poisonous sting.^[13] Covarrubias in 1611 entered the word twice, as abispa and avispa, noting that the Latin requires ⟨v⟩; he also explained estar abispado “to be stung, offended”.^[14][15] The Diccionario de Autoridades in 1726 likewise insisted on the spelling with ⟨v⟩.^[16]

The figurative use for a person goes back at least to Terreros, who applied it to a very lively person and to an ill-natured one.^[17] Today Spain uses it for an aggressive, irritable person, while in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Venezuela it means a quick, wide-awake person.^[7][18] In Gran Canaria it is the name of a rockfish.^[19]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – abiespa and viespa in the Libro de Alexandre.^[3][6]
• c. 1250 – biespas in Alfonso X's Lapidario.^[2][12]
• 1326 – Juan Manuel writes abispas.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija enters abispa with Latin vespa, and the derivative avispón “hornet”.^[4][3][6]
• 1551 – the word is recorded in Santo Domingo, among the insects of the Indies.^[20]
• 1607 – avispero “wasps' nest” is first recorded.^[6]
• 1611 – Covarrubias enters both abispa and avispa.^[14][15]
• 1726 – the Diccionario de Autoridades prescribes the spelling with ⟨v⟩.^[16]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from Latin vespa with a prefixed a.^[21]

Meanings

Noun

1. wasp: a stinging hymenopterous insect, yellow with black bands, that lives in colonies and builds combs.^[7][22][1]
2. (colloquial) A very aggressive, irritable person.^[7][1]
3. (Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Venezuela) A quick, wide-awake person.^[18]
4. (Canary Islands) A reddish rockfish of deep water, Pontinus kuhlii.^[19]

Word family

• avispero
• avispón
• avispar

Related words

• vespa

Usage notes

Cintura de avispa or talle de avispa is a very slender waist.^[7][22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. avispa
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 424
4. ^ a b 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. avispa
5. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 7133
6. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. avispa
7. ^ 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. avispa
8. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. avispa
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9373
10. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. avispa
13. ^ a b 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. 463
14. ^ 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. 48
15. ^ 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. 246
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 504
17. ^ 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, 196
18. ^ 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. avispa
19. ^ a b Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. avispa
20. ^ 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. avispa
21. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 114
22. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. avispa