desayunar

Forms

desayunar (first-person singular present desayuno, first-person singular preterite desayuné, past participle desayunado)^[1] Old Spanish also has the form deyunar (deyunasen in the Libro de las generaciones).^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish des- + ayunar, literally “to stop fasting”.^[3][4][1] ayunar continues Vulgar Latin *iaiunāre, a popular variant of Latin ieiūnō (“to fast”), which is formed from ieiūnus (“fasting, hungry”).^[5][6][1]

García de Diego instead takes the verb from a compound Vulgar Latin *disieiunāre, and Wiktionary allows that it may correspond to such a form.^[7][1] The DHLF derives French déjeuner from that compound, which is recorded in Late Latin only in the 11th century.^[8] García de Diego puts Catalan dinar (“to have lunch”) and the Ribagorçan disnar beside it, and the English verb dine comes from the same French family.^[7][1] Portuguese desjejuar is formed like the Spanish word.^[9]

Wiktionary takes the Latin adjective from Proto-Italic *jagjūnos, remade from Proto-Indo-European *h₁yaǵ- (“to sacrifice”).^[1] De Vaan sets up the same Proto-Italic stem and relates it to the root of Ancient Greek ἅγιος (hágios, “holy”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Alfonso X's Primera Partida (1256–1263, in a copy of about 1290): receiving the host and the wine at communion no se desayuna el omne, “a man does not break his fast”, because that is food for the soul, not the body.^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

In medieval texts the verb meant to break one's fast, the first eating of the day, and it was mostly pronominal: the Libro de buen amor (1330–1343) has con que nos desayunar, and El Tostado (1437) explains that a priest saying two masses does not rinse his mouth after the first por que non se desayune.^[11] A falconry treatise of before 1300 uses it of a hawk.^[11] The noun desayuno is recorded much later, in 1706.^[6]

The transitive use, to have something for breakfast, and the plain intransitive one stand beside the pronominal one in the modern dictionaries.^[3][13] A figurative pronominal sense, to hear for the first time of something that others already knew, is in the DLE and Moliner.^[3][14] Records from the Americas begin in Mexico City in 1594, with the pronominal form abía desayunádose.^[15]

Timeline

• 1256–1263 – Alfonso X's Primera Partida has no se desayuna el omne.^[11][2]
• before 1300 – the falconry book Gerardus falconarius uses it of a hawk.^[11]
• 1330–1343 – the Libro de buen amor has nos desayunar.^[11]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia's dictionary has desayunarse, Corominas's first record.^[5][6]
• 1594 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico City.^[15]
• 1706 – the first record of the noun desayuno.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, also pronominal) To have breakfast: ¿A qué hora desayunas?^[3][1]
2. (transitive, also pronominal) To have something for breakfast: Desayuné pan con aceite.^[3][14]
3. (pronominal, figurative) To learn of something for the first time, often late: Hoy me desayuno con la noticia.^[3][14]
4. (archaic) To break a fast.^[1][12]

Word family

• desayuno

Related words

• ayunar
• ayuno
• French déjeuner

Usage notes

Both desayunar and desayunarse are standard for “to have breakfast”, and the thing eaten is introduced with con in the pronominal use.^[3][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. desayunar
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. desayunar
4. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. desayunar
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 428
6. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ayuno
7. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. desayunar
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. déjeuner
9. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. desjejuar
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 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. desayunar
12. ^ 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. desayunar
13. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. desayunar
14. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. desayunar
15. ^ 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. desayunar