detrás

Etymology

Corominas takes it as a compound formed in Spanish, from Spanish de + tras, and dates it from a charter of 1163.^[2][3] The DLE, García de Diego, Moliner and Wiktionary derive it instead from the Latin prepositions combined, dē trāns.^[4][5][6][1]

The same formation is Portuguese detrás, Galician detrás, Catalan detràs and Old French detrés, and Judeo-Spanish has detrase.^[5][7][8][1] Corominas notes the Old Catalan form ⟨detras⟩ and today's dialect ⟨detrés⟩.^[2]

Its parts continue dē (“from, down from”) and trāns (“across, beyond”).^[5][9] De Vaan derives the second from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂-n̥t-s (“crossing”);^[10][1] Wiktionary traces the first to *déh₁ (“towards”).^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is a charter of 1163.^[2] The Liber regum (c. 1194–1211, in an early 13th-century copy) tells how Nebuchadnezzar went after the fleeing Zedekiah: e fol detras e conseguiello en los planos de Iherico “and went after him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200) already uses it with a noun for a place lying behind another: Detras la villa de Jherusalem … es Monte Sion.^[11] Alfonso X's Picatrix (1256) describes a figure with two faces, la una delantre la otra detras.^[12] Nebrija lists it both as an adverb and as a preposition, rendered by Latin retro, post and pone.^[13]

The Diccionario de Autoridades (1732) defined it as an adverb of place, usually with de, and added the sense “in someone's absence”, quoting Gracián on what is said behind a man's back.^[14] Moliner adds the sense “after” in a sequence.^[6] In the Americas it is recorded from Mexico in 1571, sometimes without de (detrás el paredón, 1576).^[15] Wiktionary also notes its use with possessive pronouns, as in detrás mío.^[1]

Timeline

• 949 – DEMel lists a detras in an early document collection.^[16]
• 1163 – first record in a charter, according to Corominas.^[2][3]
• c. 1194–1211 – the Liber regum uses detras.^[11]
• c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar uses it with a noun.^[11]
• 1256 – Alfonso X's Picatrix.^[12]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija's Vocabulario lists it as adverb and preposition.^[13]
• 1571 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico City.^[15]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades adds the sense “in someone's absence”.^[14]

Meanings

Adverb

1. behind, at the back; in the place behind something, often with de: El huerto está detrás de la casa.^[4][1][6]
2. After, following in a sequence or in movement: Primero pasó el coche y detrás la moto.^[6][1]
3. In someone's absence, behind someone's back; also por detrás.^[4][14]

Related words

• atrás
• Latin trāns

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 605
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. tras
4. ^ a b c 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. detrás
5. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
6. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. detrás
7. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon
8. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll
9. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
10. ^ a b 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 Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. detrás
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. detrás
13. ^ 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. detrás
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. detrás
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. detrás
16. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. detrás