domar

Forms

domar (first-person singular present domo, first-person singular preterite domé, past participle domado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish domar, inherited from Latin domō (“to tame, subdue”).^[2][3][4][1] The same Latin verb is Portuguese domar, Catalan domar and Italian domare.^[5][6] Because no forms with the diphthong ⟨ue⟩ are found in the present, Corominas suspects that the verb is semi-learned.^[2]

The Latin verb continues Proto-Italic *domaje-, which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *domh₂-eie/o- (“to tame”), a causative of the root *demh₂-.^[7][1] Its cognates include Ancient Greek δάμνημι (dámnēmi, “to tame, subdue”), Sanskrit दमयति (damáyati) and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gatamjan, “to tame”).^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is a charter of 1030 in Oelschläger's list, followed by Berceo.^[2][3] In Berceo's Signos del Juicio the bestias por domar e domadas are the wild and the tame animals.^[8] In Alfonso X's Judizios de las estrellas (1254) it means breaking in horses and other beasts.^[9]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th century the verb also meant to subdue people: Alfonso X's Estoria de España speaks of enemies uençudos & domados.^[9] Berceo already used it for mortifying the flesh, and Covarrubias in 1611 applied it to a young man, a horse and iron worked in the fire, with the proverb al potro dexale domar a otro.^[8][10] Autoridades (1732) gave the senses “to tame an animal”, “to defeat and subdue a person” and “to restrain one's passions”.^[11]

Later dictionaries extended it to taming a rough person and bending a branch into shape; in Leonese a branch is still domada by tying it while green.^[12][13] The DLE adds breaking in shoes or clothes, and in El Salvador and Guatemala the verb means “to deceive”.^[4][14]

The derivative redomado “sly, crafty” (1599) probably first meant a beast that had been broken in and still kicked back; it began in the slang of the underworld.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1030 – first record, in a charter.^[2][3]
• 13th century – Berceo uses it for taming beasts and mortifying the flesh.^[8][2]
• 1254 – Alfonso X's Judizios de las estrellas uses it for breaking in animals.^[9]
• 1444 – first record of domador.^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija: domar cosa fiera.^[15]
• 1541 – first record in the Americas, bueyes domados in Puebla.^[16]
• 1599 – first record of redomado, in Guzmán de Alfarache.^[2]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades adds the sense “to restrain the passions”.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tame or break in an animal by training: Pasó el verano domando potros en la finca.^[4][1][17]
2. To restrain or check, especially passions and unruly behaviour.^[4][17]
3. To make an unruly person more tractable; to domesticate (domesticar).^[4]
4. To break in an object so that it becomes supple and loose: domar unas botas.^[4][17]
5. (colloquial, El Salvador, Guatemala) To deceive.^[4][14]

Word family

• domador
• domadura
• doma
• domable
• indomable
• redomón
• redomado

Related words

• indómito
• duendo
• Latin domō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 513
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. domar
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. domar
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2731
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 2334
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 Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 308
9. ^ 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. domar
10. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1, 686
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 331
12. ^ 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. 639
13. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. domar
14. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. domar
15. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 338
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. domar
17. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. domar