emir

Forms

emir m (plural emires)^[1] Old Spanish had mir (about 1300), and amir and alamir (with the Arabic article) in documents of Fernando IV's reign, 1295–1317;^[2] García de Diego also lists alamiro.^[3][2] Amir was still used by 19th-century writers, the Duque de Rivas and Zorrilla, and the Academy now calls it obsolete.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Andalusian Arabic أمير (amír), from Arabic أمير (amīr, “commander, one who commands”), the DLE and Corriente say.^[5][4][6] The Arabic noun is derived from the verb أمر (amara, “to command”).^[3][7][8]

The old forms mir, amir and alamir came straight from Arabic, but Corominas thinks the modern form with ⟨e⟩, which has won out, was probably taken from French émir.^[3] French had borrowed the Arabic word as early as the 13th century.^[9] Wiktionary instead takes the Spanish word from Ottoman Turkish امیر (emir).^[1] Gómez de Silva reverses the direction and makes the Spanish word the source of the French one.^[8] The same Arabic noun, with the article, is the source of almirante, and the title أمير المؤمنين (amīr al-muʔminīn, “commander of the faithful”) gave Old Spanish amiramomellín and later miramamolín.^[3][7][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH's first record is the short form mir in the Gran Conquista de Ultramar, of about 1300;^[11] amir and alamir follow in documents of Fernando IV's reign.^[3][7] The medieval Arabic glossaries render the Arabic word as “emperor” (Ramón Martí) and “king” (Pedro de Alcalá).^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the early 17th century the word was used of the local rulers of the Near East: Juan de Persia, in 1604, explains the emires of Palestine and Judea as “the kings of those provinces”, and Lope de Vega has the form emiro in 1609.^[12] The form emir entered the dictionaries with Terreros in the late 18th century; the Academy admitted it only in 1884.^[3] The 19th-century dictionaries describe it as a title of honour in Turkey, held by the descendants of Muhammad and by officials, and Gaspar y Roig recalls titles of Muslim Spain such as emir del mar for the official in charge of the coasts and the fleet.^[13][14][15] Today it names an Arab or Muslim prince or leader, often the ruler of a state such as Kuwait.^[5][16][17] In Colombia emir is also the popular name of an ornamental shrub of the verbena family.^[18]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – the form mir in the Gran Conquista de Ultramar.^[3][7]
• 1295–1317 – amir and alamir in documents of the reign of Fernando IV.^[3]
• 1604 – Juan de Persia writes of the emires of Palestine and Judea.^[12]
• 1609 – Lope de Vega uses the form emiro in the Jerusalén conquistada.^[12]
• 1846 – Salvá defines it as a title of the descendants of Muhammad among Muslims.^[14]
• 1884 – first in the Academy's dictionary, which had not had it in 1843.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An emir: an Arab or Muslim prince or leader (príncipe, caudillo): El emir recibió a los embajadores en su palacio.^[5][16][1]
2. The political and military ruler of some Arab states.^[17]
3. (Colombia) An ornamental garden shrub of the verbena family.^[18]

Word family

• emirato

Related words

• almirante
• miramamolín
• Arabic أمير (amīr)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. amir
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 568
4. ^ a b Corriente, Federico (1999), Diccionario de arabismos y voces afines en iberorromance, Madrid: Gredos, p. 305
5. ^ 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. emir
6. ^ Corriente, Federico; Pereira, Christophe; Vicente, Ángeles (2019), Dictionnaire des emprunts ibéro-romans: emprunts à l'arabe et aux langues du monde islamique (Encyclopédie linguistique d'Al-Andalus 3), Berlin: De Gruyter, p. s.v. emir
7. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. emir
8. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. emir
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. émir
10. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. emir
11. ^ a b Eguílaz y Yanguas, Leopoldo de (1886), Glosario etimológico de las palabras españolas (castellanas, catalanas, gallegas, mallorquinas, portuguesas, valencianas y bascongadas) de origen oriental, Granada: La Lealtad, p. 413
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. emir
13. ^ 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. 672
14. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 431
15. ^ Gaspar y Roig (eds.) (1853–1855), Biblioteca ilustrada de Gaspar y Roig: Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Imprenta y Librería de Gaspar y Roig, p. 1, 853
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. emir
17. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. emir
18. ^ a b Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 591