descalzar

Forms

descalzar (first-person singular present descalzo, first-person singular preterite descalcé, past participle descalzado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin discalceāre (“to take off the shoes”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is dis- with calceō (“to shoe”), from calceus (“shoe”), itself from calx (“heel”).^[1][5] The Diccionario de Autoridades analysed it as the prefix des- with calzar, and it belongs with the family of calza.^[6][2]

The adjective descalzo is older in the record (1155) and goes back to Vulgar Latin *discalceus.^[2] The same verb is Portuguese descalçar, Galician descalzar, Catalan descalçar, Occitan descauçar, Italian discalzare and Romanian descălța; French déchausser continues Old French deschaucier.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated text in the CDH is La fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy), where God tells Moses at the burning bush descalça tos pies, ca el logar en que estas, tierra sancta es “take off your shoes, for the place where you stand is holy ground”.^[7] Corominas's first record is Don Juan Manuel's Conde Lucanor (1328–1335).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's Setenario has the Gospel phrase about not being worthy to untie the strap of someone's shoe, and the Estoria de España tells of a king who took off his shoes to walk on his heaps of gold.^[7][8] From the early 18th century the dictionaries add the removal of a wedge or chock from a wheel or a piece of furniture.^[6] Terreros recorded the undermining of a wall by water, and the friars of the reformed orders who went barefoot.^[9] The Academy added a friar's change to a discalced order in 1843 and a horse losing its shoes in 1884.^[10][11]

The phrase no merece descalzarle “he is not worthy to take off his shoes” runs a person down beside a better one.^[12] In León descalzar also means to remove a cow's hoof.^[13]

Timeline

• 1155 – the adjective descalzo, in the Fuero de Avilés.^[2]
• c. 1200 – first record of the verb, in La fazienda de Ultra Mar (in a 13th-century copy).^[7]
• 1270–1284 – Alfonso X's Estoria de España uses the reflexive descalçarse.^[8]
• 1328–1335 – Don Juan Manuel's Conde Lucanor, Corominas's first record.^[2][3]
• 1548 – first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[14]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades adds the removal of a chock.^[6]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary adds a horse losing its shoes.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take off someone's shoes;^[4][1] (reflexive) to take off one's shoes: Se descalzó al entrar en casa.^[4][1]
2. To remove one or more chocks or wedges (calzo).^[4][15]
3. To undermine, dig away beneath something (socavar).^[4][15]
4. (reflexive, of a horse or mule) To lose one or more horseshoes (herradura).^[4]
5. (reflexive, of a friar) To pass from a calced order to a discalced one (descalzo).^[4]

Related words

• descalzo
• calzar
• calza
• Portuguese descalçar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 770
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. calzar
4. ^ 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. descalzar
5. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 223
6. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 120
7. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. descalzar
8. ^ 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. descalzar
9. ^ 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, 625
10. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 240
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 357
12. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 703
13. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. descalzar
14. ^ 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. descalzar
15. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. descalzar