con

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cum (“with”), with the same form in Old Spanish con.^[2][3][1][4] The Latin final /m/ became /n/, as in quien from quem: Bénaben explains this by the loss of the contrast between nasals at the end of a word.^[5]

The same preposition is Portuguese com, Italian con and Romanian cu; in French and Catalan it was replaced by descendants of apud.^[6][7]

The Latin preposition comes from older com, Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“next to, at, with”), and it is cognate with Proto-Germanic *ga-.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The BDELC dates the first record to the 10th century.^[2] In the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140) it marks the means: „Con lumbres e con candelas al corral dieron salto” “with lights and candles they leapt into the yard”.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

The Tentative Dictionary sorts the Old Spanish uses into company, addition, reciprocal company and simultaneity, among others.^[10] In the prose of Alfonso X it already expresses means, union and the concessive “in spite of”, as in con tod esso “for all that”.^[11] The compound conque “so, then” is recorded from the early 17th century.^[2]

Nebrija in 1513 and Covarrubias in 1611 describe it by its Latin model, as a preposition governing the ablative.^[12][13] Autoridades says it is chiefly used for the means or instrument by which something is done.^[14] Before an infinitive it has the value of a gerund, a use recorded by the 19th-century dictionaries.^[15][16]

Timeline

• 900s – the first record, according to the BDELC.^[2]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses it for means and company.^[9][17]
• 1202 – the Cortes of Benavente: en una con mi muger “together with my wife”.^[17]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it in the sense “in spite of”.^[11]
• 1513 – Nebrija glosses it with Latin cum.^[12]
• 1591 – Percyvall translates it “with”.^[18]
• early 1600s – conque “so, then” is recorded.^[2]
• 1886–1893 – Cuervo's dictionary sets out its uses in detail.^[19]

Meanings

Preposition

1. with, by means of (an instrument or means): Abrió la caja con un cuchillo.^[3][1]
2. Before an infinitive, with the value of a gerund: Con llorar no arreglas nada.^[3]
3. In the manner of, with (circumstances): Habla con calma.^[3]
4. In spite of: Con ser tan rico, vive modestamente.^[3][11]
5. In exclamations, contrasting what is said with reality: ¡Con lo que te ayudé!^[3]
6. together with, in the company of: Salí con mis primos.^[3][1]
7. On condition that (with que or an infinitive): Con que me llames, basta.^[3]

Word family

• conque

Related words

• conmigo
• consigo
• contigo
• Latin cum
• Portuguese com

Usage notes

Latin placed cum after the pronouns mē, tē and sē.^[20] Spanish has the forms conmigo, contigo and consigo, and Old Spanish also wrote comigo.^[1][21]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. con
3. ^ 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. con
4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. cum
5. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. cum
7. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 901
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ 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. 741
10. ^ 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. 127
11. ^ a b c 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. con
12. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 316
13. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 496
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 467
15. ^ Gaspar y Roig (eds.) (1853–1855), Biblioteca ilustrada de Gaspar y Roig: Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Imprenta y Librería de Gaspar y Roig, p. 1, 612
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía
17. ^ 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. con
18. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins
19. ^ Cuervo, Rufino José (1886–1893), Diccionario de construcción y régimen de la lengua castellana, vols. I–II (A–D), París: A. Roger y F. Chernoviz, p. 2, 295
20. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
21. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock