corto

Forms

corto (feminine corta, masculine plural cortos, feminine plural cortas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin curtus (“truncated, cut short; incomplete”); Old Spanish corto is first recorded in 1054.^[2][3][1] The same word is Portuguese curto, Galician curto, Asturian curtiu, Aragonese curto, Catalan curt, Old Occitan cort, French court, Italian corto and Romanian scurt.^[4][5] The REW explains the ⟨s-⟩ of Romanian and of Italian scorto from Vulgar Latin *excurtiō, and finds the ⟨u⟩ of Catalan and Portuguese surprising.^[4] In every Romance language the popular Latin word replaced brevis, the usual Latin word for “short”.^[6][7]

De Vaan traces it through Proto-Italic *korto- to Proto-Indo-European *kr-to- (“cut off”), with the change of ⟨or⟩ to ⟨ur⟩ before a consonant.^[8] Walde–Hofmann derive it from the root *(s)ker- (“to cut off”), Meiser from *kʷer- (“to cut”); de Vaan prefers the first, citing cognates such as Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off, shave”), Old High German sceran (“to shave, cut off”) and Old Norse skera (“to cut off”).^[8] Wiktionary names the English words short and curt as cognates.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The BDELC dates the first record to 1054.^[2] The earliest literary hit is in the Razón de amor (c. 1205–1250, in a copy of 1250–1260), describing a girl's „cabelos cortos sobr'ell oreia” “short hair over her ear”.^[9] In the Fuero de Alcalá (c. 1235) the word still has the sense “cut”, of animals' claws and beaks.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish used corto for things lacking their proper length or small beside others of their kind: Alfonso X's Partidas say that prelates should wear their clothes „cerrados, e non cortos” “closed, and not short”.^[10] Corto could also stand for cortado “cut”, as in Juan Ruiz.^[11] Nebrija recorded corto de coraçon “faint-hearted”, and Percyvall translated corto as “weak hearted”.^[12][13] The Diccionario de Autoridades gave the senses “short”, “small” and “scant”, of garments too tight to wear.^[14]

Modern Spanish uses it for persons of little intelligence and for shy people.^[3] As a noun, corto is a clipping of cortometraje “short film” and of cortocircuito “short circuit”.^[1][15] In Peru, Bolivia and Chile a corto is a small glass of liquor taken after a meal, and in several Central American countries, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Ecuador a film trailer.^[16][17] In Málaga it is a kind of coffee with more milk than coffee.^[1]

Timeline

• 1054 – first record.^[2]
• c. 1205–1250 – the Razón de amor speaks of short hair.^[9]
• c. 1215 – the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca: „nin era luenga nin era corta” “she was neither tall nor short”.^[9]
• c. 1235 – the Fuero de Alcalá, the earliest hit not known from a later copy.^[9]
• 1254 – Alfonso X's Judizios de las estrellas speaks of a „corto cuello” “short neck”.^[18]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija records corto de coraçon “faint-hearted”.^[12]
• 1520 – the first record from the Americas, in Cuba.^[19]
• 1591 – Percyvall translates it as “weak hearted”.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. short: shorter than normal or than others of its kind: Esta falda me queda corta.^[3][1]
2. Having a given length, in comparisons.^[3]
3. Falling short of its target: El disparo se quedó corto.^[3]
4. brief, of short duration.^[3][1]
5. Small in quantity, scant.^[3]
6. Of little importance or worth.^[3]
7. Lacking in something (corto de): corto de vista.^[3]
8. (colloquial) Of little intelligence, dim-witted.^[3][1]
9. (colloquial) Of a person, shy or timid.^[3]

Noun

1. A short film, clipping of cortometraje.^[1][15][20]
2. A short circuit, clipping of cortocircuito.^[1]
3. (Peru, Bolivia, Chile) A small glass of liquor, usually taken after a meal.^[16][1]
4. (Central America, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Ecuador) A film trailer.^[16][17]
5. (Málaga) A coffee made with about 70% milk and 30% coffee.^[1]

Word family

• cortedad
• acortar
• cortar
• recortar
• entrecortar
• cortometraje
• cortocircuito

Related words

• Latin curtus
• Portuguese curto
• French court
• English short

Usage notes

A la corta o a la larga means “sooner or later”;^[1] de corto means “in short trousers” or “in a dress that does not reach the feet”.^[3] The nouns “short film” and “short circuit” are clippings of the compounds, not separate words.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. corto
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. corto
4. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. curtus
6. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 2, 1112
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. court
8. ^ a b 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 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. corto
10. ^ 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. 799
11. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1929), Vocabulario medieval castellano, Madrid: Librería y Casa Editorial Hernando, p. 134
12. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 320
13. ^ a b Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 98
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 632
15. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. corto
16. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. corto
17. ^ a b Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. corto
18. ^ 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. corto
19. ^ 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. corto
20. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. corto