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costura

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word costura

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1218–1250 Fuero de Zorita de los Canes More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin *consutura
Ultimate origin
Latin suō

Pronunciation

  • /kosˈtuɾa/, [kosˈt̪u.ɾa][1]

Forms

costura f (plural costuras)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cōnsūtūra (“seam, sewing”), through Old Spanish costura.[2][3][4][1] The Vulgar Latin noun is formed on cōnsūtus, the past participle of cōnsuō (“to sew together”), with the suffix -tūra.[4][1] The Latin verb, which replaced simple suō (“to sew”) in all the Romance languages, is the source of coser.[2][5]

The same Latin noun has given words in all the Romance languages of Italy, France and Iberia: Portuguese costura, Catalan costura, French couture and Italian costura.[2][6] A voiced variant *cosdura survives as Occitan cordura, and the Asturian of Lena has cordura.[2][7] For the Portuguese word Nascentes points to the simplification of /ns/ and the loss of the unstressed ⟨u⟩.[8]

The simple verb continues Proto-Indo-European *siuH-ie/o- (“to sew”), the root of Sanskrit सीव्यति (sī́vyati) and of English sew.[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–1250), on shoemakers: if the shoes por costura fallecieren fasta quela suela sea rota “should come apart at the seam before the sole is worn through”, the shoemaker is fined.[10][11] The sense is the seam joining two pieces.[10]

Semantic evolution

Already in the 13th century the word also meant the act and craft of sewing: the Bocados de oro set the tool of sewing against that of writing.[10] A Historia troyana describes a fur cloak made syn costura ninguna “without any seam”.[10] Corominas's own first record is Juan Manuel's Conde Lucanor (1328–1335).[2][12]

Autoridades defined the word as the joining of two sewn pieces and as all needlework on linen such as sheets and shirts, and gave a nautical sense, the splicing of two ropes.[13] It also recorded the phrases como piojo en costura “packed like a louse in a seam” and saber de toda costura, to know the ways of the world and act with cunning.[13][14] The Academy later added sentar las costuras, for tailors to press the seams flat and figuratively to punish or reprimand someone.[15] Today the DLE has alta costura “haute couture”, fashion by a famous designer.[4]

In Chile, Honduras and Nicaragua costurar and costurear are used for “to sew”, to avoid confusing coser with cocer “to cook”.[2] In Puerto Rico a costura is a long, even weld, and in Colombian student slang an easy subject.[16][17]

Timeline

  • 1218–1250 – first record, in the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes.[10]
  • 1250 – the Moamín advises that the stitches be widely spaced when sewing a hawk's wound.[10][18]
  • 1328–1335 – Juan Manuel's Conde Lucanor: Corominas's first record.[2][12]
  • c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin sutura and sartura and records costurera.[19][2]
  • 1571 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico City.[20]
  • 1611 – Covarrubias records costurón, a coarse seam.[21]
  • 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives the senses “seam”, “needlework” and “splice”.[13]
  • 1884 – the Academy's dictionary derives the word from a Low Latin cusitura.[22]

Meanings

Noun

  1. sewing: the action and effect of sewing.[4][1]
  2. Needlework that is being sewn and is not yet finished: Dejó la costura sobre la mesa y fue a abrir la puerta.[4]
  3. The trade of sewing; dressmaking.[4][23]
  4. A seam: the line of stitches joining two sewn pieces.[4][1]
  5. A joint made with nails or rivets, especially between the planks or plates of a ship's hull.[4]
  6. (nautical) The seam between two planks, which is caulked to keep the water out.[4][1]
  7. (Puerto Rico) A long, even weld.[16][17]
  8. (Colombia, student slang) An easy school subject.[16]

Word family

  • costurero
  • costurera
  • costurón
  • alta costura
  • coser
  • costurar
  • sutura
  • French couture

Usage notes

Meter a alguien en costura means the same as meter en cintura, to make someone behave.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 221
  3. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. coser
  4. ^ 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. costura
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. consuo
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. consutura
  7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 1853
  8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. costura
  9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. costura
  11. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. costura
  12. ^ 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. 149
  13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 644
  14. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 251
  15. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 218
  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. costura
  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. costura
  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. costura
  19. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 320
  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. costura
  21. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 527
  22. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 302
  23. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. costura

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Costura.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/costura. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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