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despensero

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word despensero

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1284 Alfonso X, Libro de las leyes (Siete Partidas), royal scriptorium manuscript More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Latin dispēnsus

Forms

despensero m (plural despenseros, feminine despensera, feminine plural despenseras)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish despensa + -ero, “one in charge of the despensa”.[1][2] Corominas treats it under the family of dispendio: Old Spanish despensa first meant “expense”, a variant of despesa, and only later “store of provisions” and “the room where they are kept”.[3][4]

The Academy derives despensa from Latin dispēnsus (“administered, supplied”).[5] Wiktionary calls it a semi-learned borrowing of dispēnsa, from dispēnsō (“to dispense, distribute”).[1] Corominas traces the group to dispendō (“to weigh out, distribute”), formed on pendō (“to weigh; to pay”), because coins were weighed before payment.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is in Alfonso X's Libro de las leyes (the Siete Partidas), in a manuscript of 1284: among the cases in which laying hands on a cleric does not bring excommunication is the one where algun clerigo es mayordomo o despensero de lego “some cleric is the steward or larder-keeper of a layman”.[6][7] The word thus already named the servant who looked after a household's provisions.[6]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish also used the word as an adjective for what had to do with spending: the Libro de buen amor speaks of omes despenseros beside treasurers.[8] Juan de Mena used it figuratively, of ignorance as the “keeper” or “dispenser” of a youth's modesty;[9] Corominas leaves open which of the two senses was meant.[3] Nebrija's vocabulary separated the one who hands out provisions from the keeper of the store.[3][9]

In the 16th and 17th centuries despensero is common for the officer of a household, a ship or a prison who bought and shared out the food; it is recorded in Puerto Rico in 1527 and in Lima in 1578.[10] Autoridades gave three senses: the keeper of the larder, who bought the daily food and distributed it; anyone who distributes goods entrusted to him, as the good despenseros de Christo who remember the poor; and the palace officer who saw to the dishes served at the king's table, by then called despensero mayor or veedor de vianda.[11] The Academy has kept these senses since, marking the second as no longer used and keeping the royal office only in despensero mayor.[12][13] Cervantes calls God the provider and despensero of the birds of the field.[14]

Timeline

  • c. 1250? – DEMel's first record, in the Buenos proverbios (dated with a query).[15]
  • 1284 – Alfonso X's Libro de las leyes speaks of a cleric acting as despensero of a layman.[6][7]
  • 1330–1343 – the Libro de buen amor uses despensero as an adjective, “having to do with expenses”.[8]
  • c. 1440 – Corominas's first record, in Juan de Mena.[4][3]
  • c. 1495 – Nebrija glosses it with Latin promus.[9]
  • 1527 – first record in the Americas, in Puerto Rico.[10]
  • 1591 – Percyvall translates it “a butler, a steward”.[16]
  • 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines the household, charitable and palace senses.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person in charge of a despensa (pantry, larder) or of the provisions of a house, ship or community: El despensero anotaba cada saco de harina.[12][1][17]
  2. (obsolete) A person who distributes goods that have been entrusted to him for that purpose, as alms (limosna) in a church or confraternity.[12][17]
  3. (historical) In despensero mayor: the officer of the royal household who supervised the food served at the king's table; a steward (veedor de vianda).[12][11]

Usage notes

The feminine is despensera.[1][12] In nautical use the despensero was the crew member who kept the ship's stores and handed out the rations.[18][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 505
  4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. dispendio
  5. ^ 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. despensa
  6. ^ a b c 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. despensero
  7. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
  8. ^ a b Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 185
  9. ^ a b c Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 333
  10. ^ a b c 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. despensero
  11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 215
  12. ^ a b c d e 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. despensero
  13. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 373
  14. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 405
  15. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. despensero
  16. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 117
  17. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. despensero
  18. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. despensero
Cite this entry

“Despensero.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/despensero. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·