consejero

Forms

consejero m (plural consejeros, feminine consejera, feminine plural consejeras)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cōnsiliārius (“counsellor, adviser”).^[2][1][3] The DCECH and the BDELC list it among the derivatives of consejo, and the Tentative Dictionary gives that noun as its source.^[4][5][6] The Latin word is formed from cōnsilium (“counsel, deliberation”) with the suffix -ārius.^[7][1] De Vaan derives the Latin noun from cōnsul; the related verb cōnsulō (“to deliberate, consult”) goes back to Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- (“to take”).^[8]

The same Latin word is Portuguese conselheiro, Galician conselleiro and Catalan conseller.^[1][3] Nascentes calls the Portuguese word semi-learned.^[9] The learned consiliario, from 1454, is a doublet, and conceller is a loan from Catalan, for the councillors of Barcelona's Council of a Hundred.^[4][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH dates the word to a charter of 1076 in Oelschläger's list of first records.^[4][5] In an astrological work of Alfonso X (1254) a person born under a certain sign will be a consegero del rey “counsellor to the king”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish used the word for any person who gives advice.^[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as one who advises what should be done in justice and reason, and by antonomasia as a minister sitting on one of the supreme councils of the kingdom, such as the councils of State, of Castile and of the Indies.^[12] The Academy's dictionary of 1817 added the figurative sense, whatever serves as a warning for one's conduct, such as disappointments.^[13] In the 19th century the ministers of a monarchy were called consejeros de la Corona.^[14][15]

Today a consejero is also a member of a board or council and, in Spain, the head of a department of a regional government.^[2][16] In Panama the word names the secondary-school teacher in charge of a group of pupils.^[17]

Timeline

• 1076 – first record, in a charter.^[4][5]
• 1254 – consegero del rey in an astrological work of Alfonso X.^[10]
• 1275 – the General Estoria speaks of “your counsellors with you”.^[11]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin consiliarius and consiliosus.^[18][11]
• 1591 – Percyvall glosses it “counsellor”.^[19]
• 1683 – first record from the Americas, in the New Kingdom of Granada.^[20]
• 1729 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the minister of the royal councils.^[12]
• 1817 – the Academy adds the figurative sense.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. adviser, counsellor: a person who gives advice or is there to give it.^[2][1]
2. A member of a council (consejo) or board: Dos consejeros votaron en contra.^[2][21]
3. (figurative) Whatever serves as a warning or guide for one's conduct: La envidia es una consejera peligrosa.^[2]
4. (Spain) The head of a consejería, a department of a regional government.^[2][16]
5. (historical) A magistrate or minister who sat on one of the old royal councils.^[2][12]
6. (Panama) In secondary school, the teacher responsible for the conduct and work of a group of pupils.^[17]

Related words

• aconsejar
• consejo
• consiliario
• conceller
• Latin cōnsiliārius
• Portuguese conselheiro

Usage notes

Consejero de embajada is a rank in the diplomatic service.^[2]

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 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. consejero
3. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 1841
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 177
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. consejo
6. ^ Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 137
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. conselheiro
10. ^ a b 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. consejero
11. ^ 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. 762
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 524
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 229
14. ^ 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. 445
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, 626
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. consejero
17. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. consejero
18. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 317
19. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 95
20. ^ 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. consejero
21. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. consejero