candar

Forms

candar (first-person singular present cando, first-person singular preterite candé, past participle candado)^[1]

Etymology

Corominas explains it as a back-formation from Spanish candado (“padlock”), and notes that Covarrubias recorded it as a word of farm labourers.^[2] candado continues Late Latin catēnātum (“padlock”), a derivative of catēna (“chain”), because padlocks were once closed with a chain; its Old Spanish forms include cannado and calnado.^[2][3]

The DLE, the Academy's dictionaries since 1884, García de Diego and Wiktionary derive the verb instead directly from Latin catēnō (“to bind with chains”).^[4][5][6][1] The OLD takes this rare Latin verb as probably a back-formation from the participle catēnātus (“chained”).^[7] Du Cange records the sense “to close” for it in Venantius Fortunatus.^[8] De Vaan reconstructs the Latin noun as Proto-Italic *katesnā, with a query, and connects it with caterva (“crowd, troop”).^[9]

Asturian has candar “to lock with a padlock”.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Covarrubias (1611) gives it as a word of farm labourers, who would say Candad essa puerta “lock that door” for “shut that door”, as Autoridades reports.^[11][2]

Semantic evolution

Terreros repeats that it is a farm labourers' word, used instead of cerrar.^[12] The Academy marked it obsolete in 1817 and 1843, dropped the label in 1869, and in 1884 added the extended sense “to close in any way”.^{[13][14][15][5]} Domínguez in 1846 calls it unused and defines it as closing with padlocks.^[16]

Corominas records it in use in Ciudad Rodrigo and Ávila.^[2] The DLE now labels it regional: “to lock” in Asturias, Palencia and Salamanca, and in the pronominal form, in Aragon and Salamanca, “to freeze over”, of a river, stream or pond.^[4][1]

Timeline

• 1611 – Covarrubias records it as a farm labourers' word.^[2][11]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines it as locking a door or chest with a key.^[11]
• 1817 – the Academy marks it obsolete.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin and the sense “to close in any way”.^[5]
• 2001 – the Academy labels the senses as regional, including “to freeze over”.^[17]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Asturias, Palencia, Salamanca) To lock, to close with a key or another device: Canda la cuadra antes de irte.^[4][1]
2. (by extension) To close in any way.^[18][5]
3. (pronominal, Aragon, Salamanca) Of a river, stream or pond: to freeze over.^[4][1]

Related words

• candado
• cadena
• Latin catēna

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 799
3. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. candado
4. ^ a b c d 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. candar
5. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 198
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. catenare
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. candar
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 110
12. ^ 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, 334
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 167
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 133
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 142
16. ^ 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. 327
17. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. candar
18. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. candar