conformidad

Forms

conformidad f (countable and uncountable, plural conformidades)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnfōrmitās (“likeness, conformity”).^[2][3][1] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of forma, beside conforme, which is from Late Latin conformis (“very similar”).^[4][5] The Latin noun is formed on that adjective with the suffix -tās, and the adjective is con- (“with”) and -formis (“having the form of”).^[1] In Medieval Latin the noun meant likeness and similarity.^[6]

The same Latin word is Catalan conformitat, French conformité, Italian conformità, Portuguese conformidade and English conformity.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record of the word in a contemporary copy is in Pope Benedict XIII's Libro de las Consolaciones de la vida humana (before 1417): la conformidat de las costumbres e la unidat de los corazones “the conformity of habits and the unity of hearts” bring a man to charity.^[8][3] The Libro del cavallero Cifar (1300–1305) already has it, but only in a copy of the late 15th century.^[8] Corominas gives Santillana and Juan de Mena, and the BDELC dates it 1444, Mena's Laberinto.^[4][5][9]

Semantic evolution

The first senses were likeness and concord between people, as in Mena's virtudes e vida en conformidades.^[9][8] Nebrija rendered it with Latin conformitas.^[10][3] Autoridades (1729) defined it as a likeness so close that two things seem one, and added the senses “agreement, correspondence” and “union, concord between people”, quoting Venegas and Nieremberg on conformity with Christ.^[11][12]

The Academy's dictionary of 1884 had the seven senses of today, among them resignation in adversity, and the phrases de conformidad and en conformidad.^[13][2] In current use the word often means consent or approval, as in dar su conformidad.^[14][2]

Timeline

• 1300–1305 – the Libro del cavallero Cifar, in a late 15th-century copy.^[8]
• before 1417 – conformidat in Benedict XIII's Libro de las Consolaciones.^[8]
• 1444 – Juan de Mena's Laberinto de Fortuna.^[9][5]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin conformitas.^[10]
• 1729 – Autoridades records three senses.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy lists the modern senses and the phrases de conformidad and en conformidad.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. likeness between two people.^[2]
2. Correspondence or agreement of one thing with another, conformity.^[2][14][1]
3. Union, concord and good understanding between two or more people.^[2][11]
4. Symmetry and due proportion between the parts of a whole.^[2]
5. Close and complete attachment of one person to another.^[2]
6. consent, approval: El director dio su conformidad al proyecto.^[2][14]
7. Patience and resignation in adversity.^[2][13]

Related words

• conforme
• conformar
• forma
• disconformidad
• Latin conformitas

Usage notes

De conformidad con and en conformidad con mean “in accordance with”.^[13]

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 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. conformidad
3. ^ a b c Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. conformidad
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 932
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. forma
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ 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. 272
8. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. conformidad
9. ^ a b c 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. 753
10. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (c. 1495), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca (facsimile, Madrid: Real Academia Española 1951)
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, 505
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro
13. ^ 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)
14. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. conformidad