declaración

Forms

declaración f (plural declaraciones)^[1] Old Spanish texts write declaracion, declaraçion and declaraçión; the Vidal Mayor has declaratión, and declaration also occurs.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēclārātiō (“a making known, disclosure”), the noun of action of dēclārō (“to make clear, make known”) with the suffix -tiō.^[4][1][5] The DCECH lists it among the derivatives of declarar, a verb taken from Latin in the family of claro.^[6] DICCA-XV also calls it a borrowing of the Latin noun, derived from the verb, which comes from clārus (“clear”).^[7]

Lewis and Short call the Latin noun very rare; the OLD cites it from Cicero for the making known of a will or a state of mind.^[8][5] In Medieval Latin it meant a proclamation and an explanation.^[9] The adjective goes back to *klāro- (“loud”) and *klh₁-ro- (“loud, sonorous”); de Vaan notes that the change from “loud” to “clear, bright” is found in other languages too.^[10]

The same Latin noun was taken as Portuguese declaração, Catalan declaració and French déclaration.^[11][12][1] Nascentes calls the Portuguese word semi-learned.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is a text of the Cortes of León dated 1208, printed in modern spelling, where a ruling on vassals binds whoever acts after this declaracion has been published.^[3] DEMel's first record is the Vidal Mayor of about 1250, where a party who must produce witnesses loses the right to be heard if he does not name them within six days of making the declaratión.^[2][3] A Castilian document of 1256 on a lawsuit has declaracion beside departimiento and menguança.^[3] The Breve diccionario dates the word only to 1438.^[13]

Semantic evolution

In medieval texts the word often means the explanation or interpretation of a text or a law: the Ordenamiento de Alcalá of 1348 pairs entrepretaçion o declaraçion, and Fernández de Heredia (1376–1396) calls the declaraçion de la palaura the spirit of a word.^[3] Nebrija's Latin dictionary of 1492 uses declaracion to render Latin words for explanation, exposition and interpretation.^[7]

The Diccionario de Autoridades gave three senses: the making known of something hidden, doubtful or unknown; the commentary on something obscure; and, in law, the sworn statement of an accused, a witness or an expert in criminal and civil cases, which differs from a confession in being taken at the preliminary stage of a case.^[14] Terreros added the letters patent in which a prince declares his will about an earlier edict.^[15] The Academy's dictionary of 1899 defines it as the act and effect of declaring, and also as the expression of a state of mind or an intention.^[16] Alemany in 1917 separates the sworn statement of a witness or expert from the unsworn statement of the accused, a distinction the DLE keeps.^[17][4]

Today the word also names a tax return (declaración de la renta), a public statement to the press and a declaration of love.^[4][18][1]

Timeline

• 1208 – the CDH's earliest hit, in a text of the Cortes of León in modern spelling.^[3]
• c. 1250 – the Vidal Mayor uses declaratión for a statement in a lawsuit.^[2][3]
• 1256 – a Castilian document on a lawsuit has declaracion.^[3]
• 1348 – the Ordenamiento de Alcalá pairs interpretaçion o declaraçion of the laws.^[3]
• 1438 – the date the Breve diccionario gives for the word.^[13]
• 1492 – Nebrija's Latin–Spanish dictionary renders several Latin words for explanation with declaracion.^[7]
• 1571 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico City.^[19]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines the legal statement of an accused, a witness or an expert.^[14]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros records the sense “royal letters patent”.^[15]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, Latin declaratio.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or effect of declaring or declaring oneself; a declaration.^[4][1]
2. An explanation of something that others doubt or do not know.^[4]
3. A statement of one's feelings or intentions, in particular a declaration of love: Por fin le hizo su declaración durante la cena.^[4][18]
4. A public statement: El portavoz evitó hacer declaraciones tras la reunión.^[18][1]
5. (law) A formal statement with legal effect, especially one made by the parties, the witnesses or the experts in a trial: El juez tomó declaración a los dos testigos.^[4][20]
6. (law) The statement made by an accused person.^[4][21]
7. declaración de la renta, declaración tributaria: a tax return.^[4][1]

Related words

• declarar
• claro
• aclaración
• Latin dēclārātiō
• Portuguese declaração

Usage notes

Prestar declaración “to give a statement” and tomar declaración “to take a statement” are the usual legal phrases.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. declaración
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. declaración
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 95
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro
12. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll
13. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. claro
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. declaración
15. ^ a b Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 1, 595
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 315
17. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 531
18. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial
19. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
20. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos
21. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe