cómo

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish cuemo, inherited from Vulgar Latin quomo, a contraction of quōmodo (“in what way? how?”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin adverb is the ablative of quī and modus (“manner”);^[5] the contracted form is found from the 2nd or 3rd century AD, and all the Romance forms come from it.^[2][6]

Old Spanish had como beside the diphthongised form, which appears in the Glosas Emilianenses and was current until the end of the 14th century.^[2] It is usually explained as the Latin diphthong uo carried on to ue, but Corominas prefers a reaction against the closed vowel of unstressed words when the word was stressed, since Cornu observed that the Cantar de mio Cid generally has the plain form unstressed and the diphthong under stress, in questions, exclamations and emphasis.^[2] The same distinction survives in the written accent that sets the stressed word apart from unstressed como, which has the same Latin origin.^[4][7]

The same Latin word is Portuguese como, Catalan com, Asturian cómo and Romanian cum; Italian come adds et, and French comment the adverb ending -mente.^[8][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) the interrogative is used for manner, in direct and indirect questions.^[11][2][12] The Auto de los Reyes Magos (c. 1180) has ¿Cúmo podremos prouar si es homne mortal o si es rei de terra o si celestrial? “how can we test whether he is a mortal man, or a king of the earth, or a heavenly one?”^[13]

Semantic evolution

Covarrubias notes its use por interrogación, as in ¿Cómo hazeis una cosa tan fea? “how can you do such an ugly thing?”^[14] The Autoridades gives the interrogative the sense “why, by virtue of what”, and quotes el cómo y el cuándo “the how and the when” as a noun.^[15] The DLE now also has questions about price (¿a cómo?) and about degree with de, and the exclamative ¡cómo! of surprise or annoyance.^[4] The exclamative with de before an adjective survives in parts of the Americas, and ¿cómo no? has come to mean “yes, of course”.^[4] In Cuba ¿a cómo? asks the price of something.^[16]

Timeline

• c. 950 – the Glosas Emilianenses have quemo, the oldest record of the word.^[2]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses stressed cuemo in questions and exclamations.^[2][11]
• c. 1180 – cúmo in a question in the Auto de los Reyes Magos.^[13]
• late 14th century – cuemo goes out of use.^[2]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records the interrogative use.^[14]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records el cómo as a noun.^[15]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (interrogative) how, in what way: ¿Cómo llegaste hasta aquí?^[4][1]
2. (interrogative) why, for what reason: ¿Cómo no me avisaste?^[4]
3. (interrogative) With de, asks about degree: ¿Cómo de alta es la casa?^[4]
4. (interrogative) With a, asks the price: ¿A cómo están las peras?^[4][10]
5. (interrogative) Asks for something to be repeated or explained: ¿Cómo que te vas mañana?^[4][1]
6. (exclamative) How, in what a manner: ¡Cómo baila tu prima!^[4]
7. (exclamative) How much: ¡Cómo nevaba aquella noche!^[4]

Noun

1. The manner or means, with the article el: Nadie nos explicó el cómo.^[4][1]

Interjection

1. Expresses surprise or annoyance: ¡Cómo! ¿Ya te vas?^[4][1]

Related words

• como
• modo
• Latin quomodo
• Catalan com

Usage notes

¿Cómo no? means “of course”, and ¿cómo así? asks for an explanation of something unexpected.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 159
3. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. como
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. cómo
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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. 2, 846
7. ^ 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. como
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. quomodo
10. ^ a b Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. cómo
11. ^ a b Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 126
12. ^ 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. 730
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. cómo
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. 493
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 441
16. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. cómo