disturbio

Forms

disturbio m (plural disturbios)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish disturbar + -io.^[2][1][3] disturbar “to perturb” is from Latin disturbō (“to demolish, upset”);^[4][5][1] Corominas calls it a rare learned form beside the inherited estorbar, Old Spanish destorvar, which continues the same Latin verb.^[4][5][1]

The Latin verb is dis- and turbō (“to upset, agitate”), from turba (“commotion, upheaval”).^[6][7] De Vaan finds the proposed link of the noun with Sanskrit and a root *tuer- very uncertain.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest record is a document of the Corte del Justicia de Ganaderos of Zaragoza of 1472–92, which provides that after the cancelled sentence there may be no disturbio alguno “any disturbance”.^[8] The HSMS has it in the laws of the brotherhood of Aragon of 1488, and in 1498 Martínez de Ampiés writes of the disturbios y robos of invaders.^[9][8] DICCA-XV has 1498; the DCECH knew the word only from the 17th century and the Diccionario de Autoridades.^[10][4]

Semantic evolution

The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as a disturbance of the peace, quiet and concord among people, of a kingdom, a city or a family, with examples of distúrbios domésticos.^[11] The Academy kept a similar definition through the 19th century and gave the etymology disturbar in 1899.^[12][13] Today the word most often names a disturbance of public order, a riot, and is common in the plural.^[14][15]

Timeline

• 1472–1492 – disturbio in a Zaragoza document.^[8]
• 1488 – the laws of the brotherhood of Aragon, printed at Híjar.^[9]
• 1498 – disturbios y robos in Martínez de Ampiés's translation of the Tratado de Roma.^[8]
• 1644 – the first record from the Americas, in Nueva Vizcaya, Mexico.^[16]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it.^[11]
• 1899 – the Academy derives it from disturbar.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A disturbance: a disruption of peace and concord.^[2][1]
2. A disturbance of public order, a riot (motín, tumulto), often in the plural: La policía detuvo a cinco personas tras los disturbios.^[14][15]

Related words

• disturbar
• estorbar
• estorbo
• turbar
• perturbar
• Latin disturbō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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. disturbio
3. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. disturbio
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 699
5. ^ a b 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. disturbar
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. disturbō
7. ^ 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
8. ^ 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. disturbio
9. ^ 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, p. s.v. disturbio
10. ^ 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. disturbio
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 314
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 331
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 365
14. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. disturbio
15. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. disturbio
16. ^ 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. disturbio