combatir

Forms

combatir (first-person singular present combato, first-person singular preterite combatí, past participle combatido)^[1] Old Spanish also had the etymological infinitive combater and the spellings conbatir and conbater.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin combattuere (“to fight with, fight”), in the popular form *combattere, a compound of com- (“with, together”) and battuō (“to beat”) (see batir).^[4][1][5] Corominas treats it in his article on the simple verb and dates it to Berceo, the BDELC to 1220–1250.^[6][7]

The same verb is Portuguese combater, Galician combater, Catalan combatre, French combattre and Italian combattere.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in the CDH is the Liber Regum (1194–1211, in a copy of the early 13th century), where the kings of Syria and Israel come against Jerusalem por combaterla e por prenderla, e non podieron “to attack it and take it, and they could not”.^[2] About 1200 the Fazienda de Ultra Mar uses the reflexive of Rebecca's twins, who combatianse en el vientre “struggled in the womb”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb meant both “to fight” and “to attack” a place; by about 1223 the Semejanza del mundo already applies it to the wind that beats on the earth from all sides.^[2][10] Covarrubias defines it as one army fighting another and quotes the proverb Hombre apercebido, medio combatido, “a man forewarned is half fought”.^[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades adds persons and animals, the storming of a fortress, and winds and waves that clash.^[12]

The Academy's 1817 edition added the figurative senses “to contradict, refute” and “to stir the passions of the mind”.^[13] The sense “to fight against an evil” (an epidemic, terrorism) is now one of the main ones in the DLE.^[4] In Puerto Rico the use for opposing an argument is regarded as a semantic loan from English to combat.^[14]

Timeline

• 1194–1211 – the Liber Regum has combaterla “to attack it”.^[2]
• c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar uses the reflexive combatianse.^[2]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo, Corominas's first record.^[6][7]
• 1247 – the Fueros de Aragón speak of el combater del castiello “the attack on the castle”.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin oppugno and impugno.^[15]
• 1539 – the first record from the Americas, in New Granada: comenzaron a combatir el buhío.^[16]
• 1611 – Covarrubias quotes Hombre apercebido, medio combatido.^[11]
• 1729 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it.^[12]
• 1817 – the Academy adds “to refute” and “to agitate the mind”.^[13]
• 1936 – combativo and combatividad, modelled on French, enter the Academy's dictionary.^[6][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, also reflexive) To fight, do battle: Su abuelo combatió en la guerra civil.^[4][1]
2. (transitive) To attack, assail.^[4]
3. Of waves, winds and other inanimate things: to beat against, buffet.^[4]
4. To fight against an evil or harm, trying to stop its spread: combatir la pobreza.^[4][17]
5. To oppose, refute an idea or opinion.^[4][18]
6. To stir up the feelings and passions of the mind.^[4]

Word family

• combate
• combatiente
• combativo
• combatividad

Related words

• batir
• abatir
• debatir
• French combattre

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. combatir
3. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. combatir
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. combatir
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 544
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. batir
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. art. 1753
10. ^ 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. combatir
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. 489
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 427
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 215
14. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. combatir
15. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 315
16. ^ 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. combatir
17. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. combatir
18. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. combatir