conscripción

Forms

conscripción f (plural conscripciones)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnscrīptiō (“a written record; a treatise”), as Moliner says.^[2][3] The Latin noun is formed from cōnscrībō (“to write down, enrol”) with the suffix -tiō, and in late Latin it could also mean the levying of troops.^[3][4][1] According to the DAMER, the modern word is from French conscription instead.^[5] The French Wiktionary explains the French word as a Latin form whose sense, military enrolment, comes from conscrit (“conscript”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The early records are learned uses of the Latin sense “writing”: a Bible translation of about 1400 speaks of todas las conscripciones of a region, and the 1498 translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery uses it of Galen's description of the muscles.^[7] An Aragonese translation of Plutarch's Lives by Juan Fernández de Heredia (1379–1384) already calls the author's writings conscripciones.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The military sense appears in Spain in writing about Napoleonic France: Antonio de Capmany in 1808 lists conscripciones among the burdens a French ruler would bring.^[7] The Constitution of Colombia of 1821 gives Congress the power to decree the conscripción of the armies.^[7] Barcia in the 1880s still described it as a French institution, the call-up for military service by lot.^[8]

The word has remained mainly American: an 1871 text from Santo Domingo speaks of a general conscripción of the country's youth.^[9] The DLE limits the sense “military service” to Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador and records a Venezuelan sense, the barracks where conscripts serve.^[10] The DAMER adds “recruitment” in many countries and, in Argentina, a periodic drive to enrol new members of a club.^[5]

Timeline

• 1379–1384 – Juan Fernández de Heredia's Aragonese Plutarch uses conscripciones for “writings”.^[7]
• c. 1400 – a Spanish Bible translation, in the sense “written records”.^[7]
• 1808 – Capmany uses it of French military conscription.^[7]
• 1821 – the Constitution of Colombia.^[7]
• 1871 – first record in Santo Domingo.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador) Compulsory military service (servicio militar); conscription: Hizo la conscripción en el sur del país.^[10][11][1]
2. (Latin America) Recruitment, enlistment (alistamiento).^[5]
3. (Venezuela) The barracks (cuartel) where conscripts do their compulsory service.^[10][5]
4. (Argentina) A periodic drive to enrol new members in a club or association.^[5]

Related words

• conscripto
• escribir
• French conscription

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. conscripción
3. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. cōnscrīptiō
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. conscriptio
5. ^ a b c d e Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. conscripción
6. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. conscription
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. conscripción
8. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 1008
9. ^ a b 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. conscripción
10. ^ a b c 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. conscripción
11. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. conscripción