desechar

Forms

desechar (first-person singular present desecho, first-person singular preterite deseché, past participle desechado)^[1]

Etymology

Corominas lists it among the derivatives of echar, so that it is formed from Spanish des- + echar^[2][3]; the Diccionario de Autoridades and Gómez de Silva analyse it in the same way.^[4][5] The DLE and Wiktionary derive it instead from disiectō (“to throw this way and that, scatter”)^[6][1], a frequentative formed with dis- on iactō (“to throw”).^[7]

The simple verb continues a Vulgar Latin *iectāre, a variant of the Latin frequentative of iaciō (“to throw”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest record is the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–1250): De aquel que firmas desechare “of him who rejects witnesses”.^[8] Corominas dates it from Berceo and the Libro de Alexandre, of 1220–1250.^[3][2] Berceo's Loores use it of God at the Judgement: desechará la paja “he will cast away the chaff”; in the Alexandre Patroclus knows how to ward off a blow, el colpe desechar.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Alfonso X's prose it means to exclude or discard, to scorn, to refuse and to cast out.^[9] Nebrija gives Latin repudio as its equivalent.^[10] Covarrubias (1611) defines it as to reject or cast out as useless, with the noun desecho for the poor remains after the good part has been chosen.^[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades has the senses to scorn, to reject and to turn down an office or dignity.^[4] The Academy's 1843 edition records the proverb lo que uno desecha, otro lo ruega, that what is useless to one is valuable to another.^[12] The 1884 edition adds the sense of turning a key or drawing a bolt to open.^[13]

In the Americas, desechar un paso meant to avoid a difficult stretch of road by another way; the 16th-century chroniclers use it so, and desecho came to mean a shortcut in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile.^[2] Corominas notes that Andalusian desechadero “a temporary road that avoids a bad stretch” shows that the use need not have arisen in the Americas.^[2] Today desechar means to take a shortcut in Nicaragua, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.^[14][15]

Timeline

• 1218–1250 – the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes has desechare “rejects”.^[8]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo and the Libro de Alexandre, the first records Corominas gives.^[3][2]
• 1280 – Alfonso X's General Estoria: desechada es la mi alma.^[9]
• c. 1335 – Juan Manuel uses it in the Conde Lucanor.^[16]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija: Latin repudio; the noun desecho is first recorded.^[10][3]
• 1549 – first record in the Americas, in Santo Domingo, of a road bien deshechado.^[17]
• 1591 – Percyvall translates it “to cast off”.^[18]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines desechar and desecho.^[11]
• 1843 – the Academy records the proverb lo que uno desecha, otro lo ruega.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the sense of opening a lock or bolt.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To exclude or reject: El jurado desechó dos de las propuestas.^[6][19][1]
2. To scorn, to hold in little regard.^[6]
3. To refuse, not to accept something offered.^[6]
4. To expel, throw out.^[6]
5. To put away a sorrow, fear, suspicion or bad thought: Desecha ya ese miedo, que no pasará nada.^[6][19]
6. To give up using a garment or other object; to discard: Desechó el abrigo viejo al llegar el invierno.^[6][1]
7. To turn a key, or draw back a bolt, so as to open.^[6][19]
8. (Nicaragua, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela; intransitive) To take a shortcut.^[14][15]

Word family

• desechable
• desecho

Related words

• echar

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. 2, 540
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. echar
4. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 150
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. desechar
6. ^ 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. desechar
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. disiectō
8. ^ 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. desechar
9. ^ 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. desechar
10. ^ a b 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. desechar
11. ^ 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. 654
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 244
13. ^ 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. 362
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. desechar
15. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. desechar
16. ^ Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 179
17. ^ 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. desechar
18. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 113
19. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. desechar