descubrir

Forms

descubrir (first-person singular present descubro, first-person singular preterite descubrí, past participle descubierto)^[1] Old Spanish wrote descobrir; the Fuero Juzgo has descrobir and descrubir.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin discooperīre (“to uncover”), found in Saint Jerome.^[4][2][1] The Latin verb is made of dis- and cooperiō (“to cover completely”), the source of cubrir, which is derived from operiō (“to cover”).^[1][5] In Spanish terms it is des- plus the same verb, and Corominas and Autoridades treat it as a compound of that verb.^[1][6][3]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese descobrir, Catalan descobrir, Occitan descobrir, French découvrir, Italian scoprire and Romanian descoperi.^[7]

The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Italic *op-wer-i(e)- (“to cover up”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer- (“to cover”); its opposite is aperiō (“to open”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) the Cid asks the moneylenders Rachel and Vidas „que non me descubrades a moros nin a cristianos” “not to give me away to Moors or Christians”, that is, “to reveal a secret”.^[9][10] The Cid also uses it for taking away something that covers.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose has the senses “to reveal”, “to uncover”, “to find what was unknown or hidden” and “to catch sight of”.^[11] Berceo describes the congregation at mass who „descubren sus cabezas” “bare their heads”.^[9] The noun descubrimiento is recorded from Juan Ruiz on.^[5][6]

With the voyages to the Americas the sense “to find unknown lands” came to the fore: in 1515 a document from Tierra Firme speaks of going down to the South Sea “a descobrir lo que en ella había”.^[12] Covarrubias in 1611 explained descubrimiento as the finding of new things or of lands not known before, “like the discovery of the Indies”, and descubrir tierra as scouting ahead in war.^[13] Autoridades defined it as taking the cover off something, and also as finding what had been unknown or hidden, such as a treasure or a country.^[3] In much of Central and South America descubrir el agua tibia “to discover lukewarm water” means to present as new something everyone knows;^[14] Chile says descubrir América.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses it for “to reveal”.^[9][5]
• c. 1215 – the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (in a 14th-century copy) has descobrir.^[9]
• 1228–1246 – Berceo's Sacrificio de la misa has descubren sus cabezas.^[9]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for “to reveal” and “to uncover”.^[11]
• 1492 – Nebrija gives it for Latin discooperio, detego and revelo.^[15]
• 1515 – the first record from the Americas, for exploring the South Sea.^[12]
• 1581 – first record of descubridor.^[6]
• 1611 – Covarrubias mentions the discovery of the Indies.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make known, reveal: Al final descubrió sus planes.^[4][1]
2. To uncover what was covered.^[4]
3. To discover what was unknown or hidden, especially unknown lands or seas.^[4][1]
4. To catch sight of, see from afar.^[4]
5. To find out something one did not know.^[4]
6. (reflexive) To take off one's hat or cap.^[4][16]
7. (reflexive) Of a person: to make oneself known after being unrecognised.^[4]

Word family

• descubrimiento
• descubridor
• descubierto
• descubierta

Related words

• cubrir
• encubrir
• Latin discooperiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 2284
3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 144
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. descubrir
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 263
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cubrir
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. descubrir
11. ^ 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. descubrir
12. ^ 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. descobrir
13. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1, 654
14. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. descubrir
15. ^ 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, p. s.v. descubrir
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. descubrir