camino

Forms

camino m (plural caminos)^[1] Medieval texts also write camjno and camxino.^[2] Asturian has camín.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish camino, inherited from Vulgar Latin cammīnus (“way, road”).^[4][5][6][1] The Latin word is first recorded in Spain, in the 7th century,^[4] in a text from before 680.^[7] It is of Celtic origin: Corominas compares Old Irish céimm (“step”) and Welsh cam (“step”),^[4][5] and Wiktionary considers it Gaulish.^[1] The DLE adds that the Celtic word was itself of Hispanic origin, comparing Celtiberian camanon.^[6][8] The REW notes that the modern Celtic forms point to a Celtic ending that Latin replaced with its own -inus.^[9]

The word lives on in every Romance language except Romanian:^[4] Portuguese caminho, Galician camiño, Asturian camín, Catalan camí, Occitan camin, French chemin and Italian cammino.^[9][10][1]

Covarrubias (1611) offered fanciful explanations such as callis (“path”) with magnus (“great”), or an Arabic word ⟨caymun⟩, and the Academy's first dictionary preferred the Arabic one.^[11][12] The Academy's 1884 dictionary gave the Celtic origin for the first time.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word to 1084, the BDELC agreeing.^[4][5] The DEMel lists earlier hits in the charters of Oña (1011) and Nájera (1044), and the LLA notes that the Latin word is in the Notitia of Wamba.^[2][14] The first CDH hit not known from a later copy is the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250): Depues que en el camino entraren, anden “once they have set out on the road, let them travel”.^[15]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish already used the word for a road, for a journey, and in phrases like andar camino “to travel” and omne de camino “traveller”, and one medieval text uses it for a military expedition.^[16][17] Caminar “to walk” is recorded from 1220–1250.^[5]

The 1817 dictionary adds the figurative senses “way of life” and “means”, the old camino cabdal “high road” and the fortification term camino cubierto.^[18] Camino de herradura “bridle path” is already there;^[18][19] camino de hierro “railway” and Camino de Santiago “the Milky Way” are in the 1869 edition.^[18][19] VOX explains the sense “course of action” as a comparison of moving along a path with carrying out an action.^[20]

In Argentina, Uruguay and the Canaries camino is also a long runner or table runner,^[21][22][23] and in Guatemala the parting of the hair.^[21]

Timeline

• 7th century – the Latin camminus in a text from Spain.^[4][7]
• 1084 – the first record for Corominas, in a charter.^[4][5]
• 1218–c. 1250 – the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes uses camino.^[15]
• 1220–1250 – the verb caminar.^[5]
• 1515 – the first record from the Americas, in Tierra Firme.^[24]
• 1611 – Covarrubias proposes callis magnus and an Arabic origin.^[11]
• 1715 – caminata “long walk”, from Italian.^[5]
• 1729 – the Diccionario de Autoridades prefers the Arabic etymology.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives a Celtic etymology.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A path or track of trodden ground used for going from place to place.^[6][1]
2. A road built for travel.^[6][1]
3. A journey from one place to another: Nos queda mucho camino.^[6]
4. The way or direction to follow to reach a place.^[6][1]
5. A way of behaving, morally: el buen camino.^[6][25]
6. A means of doing or achieving something.^[6][25]
7. A table runner;^[21] (Argentina, Uruguay) a long narrow rug for halls and stairs.^[6][21]
8. (dated) Each of the trips made by a water carrier or other carrier.^[6][12]

Word family

• caminar
• caminante
• caminero
• encaminar
• descaminar
• descaminado
• correcaminos
• camino real
• Camino de Santiago

Related words

• caminata
• Vulgar Latin cammīnus
• French chemin
• Italian cammino

Usage notes

Camino de is used as a preposition, “on the way to”: camino del trabajo.^[26][1] Fixed phrases include ponerse en camino “to set off” and abrir camino “to clear the way”.^[1][27]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. camino
3. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. camín
4. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 787
5. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. camino
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. camino
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. chemin
8. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. camino
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1552
10. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. s.v. camminus
11. ^ 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. 399
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 92
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 195
14. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. camino
15. ^ 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. camino
16. ^ Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 93
17. ^ 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. camino
18. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 164
19. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 140
20. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. camino
21. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. camino
22. ^ Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. camino
23. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 197
24. ^ 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. camino
25. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. camino
26. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 197
27. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 131