deuda

Forms

deuda f (plural deudas)^[1] Old Spanish wrote debda, also debta, deupda, depda and deueda;^[2][3] deuda is first recorded in Alonso de Palencia (1490).^[2][3] Old Castilian also had deoda, and Navarrese has doida.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish debda, inherited from Latin dēbita (“things owed”), the neuter plural of dēbitum (“debt”), taken as a feminine singular.^{[3][5][6][1][7]} The Latin noun is the past participle of dēbeō (“to owe”), used as a noun.^[1][6] De Vaan explains the verb as contracted from *dēhabeō (“I hold away from someone, withhold”), from habeō (“to have”), and Corominas also derives it from that verb.^[8][3]

The singular gave Old Spanish debdo (“obligation”), now deudo “relative”, and its learned doublet is débito (1573).^[3][5] Old Portuguese had Old Galician-Portuguese devida, and Catalan deute continues the singular.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates debda from a charter of 1206 in Oelschläger's list.^[3][5] The CDH has it earlier in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy), in a passage of the law on oaths: oviere debda de jura “has the obligation of an oath”.^[9] DEMel cites debtas in a charter of the late 12th century from the monastery of Carrizo.^[2] The Fuero de Zorita (1218–c. 1250) rules que los padres non respondan por las debdas delos fijos “that parents shall not answer for their children's debts”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Spanish the word already meant both a debt of money and an obligation in general.^[9][10] Nebrija (c. 1495) has deuda de dinero, Latin aes alienum.^[11] Covarrubias (1611) quotes the proverb el deudor no se muera, que en pie se estará la deuda and records deuda also for a female relative.^[12] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1732) notes that the older form was debda, and gives the sense “sin, offence”, from the Lord's Prayer, perdónanos nuestras deudas, and deuda común for death, the debt that all must pay.^[13]

The 19th-century dictionaries added the terms of public finance, such as deuda pública, deuda consolidada and deuda flotante.^[14][15] Moliner notes that the Lord's Prayer now says ofensas instead of deudas.^[16] In the Americas the word is recorded from 1525, as debda, in Mexico City.^[17]

Timeline

• late 12th century – debtas in a charter of Carrizo.^[2]
• c. 1200 – debda in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar, known from a 13th-century copy.^[9]
• 1206 – debda in a charter, Corominas's first record.^[3][5]
• 1218–c. 1250 – the Fuero de Zorita on children's debts.^[9]
• 1490 – Alonso de Palencia has the modern form deuda.^[3]
• 1525 – the first record in the Americas, from Mexico City.^[17]
• 1611 – Covarrubias quotes the proverb on the debtor.^[12]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades notes the older form debda.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A debt: the obligation to pay, settle or return something to another person, usually money: Tardó diez años en saldar la deuda con el banco.^[6][1]
2. The amount owed: La deuda de la empresa supera el millón.^[16][18]
3. A moral obligation towards someone: Tengo con ella una deuda de gratitud.^[6][16]
4. (religion) A sin, fault or offence, as in the set phrase perdónanos nuestras deudas.^[6]

Word family

• adeudar
• endeudar

Related words

• deber
• débito
• deudor
• deudo
• Latin dēbitum

Usage notes

Common phrases include deuda pública, the debt of the State, deuda externa or exterior, owed abroad, and estar en deuda con alguien “to be in someone's debt”.^[16][18] The proverb lo prometido es deuda “a promise is a debt” is common.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. deuda
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 429
4. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 2126
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. deber
6. ^ 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. deuda
7. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. deuda
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, p. s.v. deuda
10. ^ 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. deuda
11. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 334
12. ^ 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. 665
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 247
14. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 395
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 378
16. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. deuda
17. ^ 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. debda
18. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. deuda