divergir

Forms

divergir (first-person singular present diverjo, first-person singular preterite divergí, past participle divergido)^[1]

Etymology

Corominas explains it as a back-formation from Spanish divergente, an adjective recorded from 1709.^[2][3] That adjective was made from convergente with the Latin prefix di-, which marks separation.^[3] Both families began as terms of optics, coined in modern Latin by Johannes Kepler.^[2][3]

The DLE, Moliner and Wiktionary derive the verb directly from Latin dīvergō.^[4][5][1] Bénaben calls it a borrowing from Late Latin, where the verb meant “to incline”.^[6] The OLD records the Latin verb, “to go in different directions”, in a land surveyor's text, of water flowing to lower ground.^[7] It combines dis- and vergō (“to slope down, turn”).^[7][1] De Vaan traces that verb to Proto-Indo-European *h₂werg- (“to turn”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first hit is in Antonio de Ulloa's account of his journey to Peru (1748), in a passage on catoptrics: si los rayos de luz divergiendo ó convergiendo, que es lo mismo que separandose ó concurriendo, se reflectan “if rays of light, diverging or converging, which is the same as separating or meeting, are reflected”.^[9] This is earlier than Corominas's date, the Academy's dictionary of 1884.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the verb belonged to optics and natural science.^[9] By 1820–1823 Sebastián de Miñano used it of people who differ in their way of thinking.^[9] Domínguez gave both senses, spreading out from a point and disagreeing.^[10] The Academy entered the verb, as a term of geometry, in 1869.^[11] In 1884 it added the figurative sense “to disagree”.^[12] Corominas had noted that it was missing from the 1843 edition.^[2] Today the DLE gives the senses “to move gradually apart” and “to disagree”.^[4] Mathematics uses it of a series or limit that does not approach a finite value.^[13]

Timeline

• 1709 – Tosca records divergente.^[2][3]
• 1748 – Antonio de Ulloa writes of rays of light divergiendo ó convergiendo.^[9]
• 1820–1823 – Miñano uses it of differences of opinion.^[9]
• 1846–1847 – Domínguez's dictionary gives both senses.^[10]
• 1869 – the Academy's dictionary enters it as a term of geometry.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the figurative sense and the Latin etymology.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of lines, surfaces or rays: to diverge, move gradually apart from a common point: Las dos carreteras divergen después del puente.^[4][5][1]
2. (intransitive) To disagree, differ in opinion; discrepar.^[4][5]
3. (mathematics) Of a series, limit or integral: not to approach any finite value.^[13]

Related words

• divergente
• divergencia
• convergir
• Latin dīvergō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 184
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. convergir
4. ^ a b c d 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. divergir
5. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. divergir
6. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. divergir
7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. divergir
10. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 634
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 286
12. ^ 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. 395
13. ^ a b Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org