encender

Forms

encender (first-person singular present enciendo, first-person singular preterite encendí, past participle encendido)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin incendere (“to set on fire, burn”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from in- and candeō (“to shine, be white-hot”).^[2][5][1] The root verb goes back to *kand-ē- (“to shine”), and has Celtic and Indo-Iranian cognates meaning brilliant.^[6]

The same Latin verb is Catalan encendre, Occitan encendre, Italian incendere and Romanian încinde, and Old Portuguese had Old Galician-Portuguese encender in the 13th century.^[7][8][9] Galician and Portuguese, like Italian, generally preferred a verb from accendō, Portuguese acender, which is also not rare in medieval Castilian.^[2] In Asturian the verb is encender and the participle encesu (“bright red”).^[10][7]

Old Spanish had a strong participle enceso, from Latin incēnsus, beside encendido, which is found from the start.^[2] The neuter of that participle, incēnsum, is the source of incienso, whose form was influenced by the verb.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Glosas Silenses of the 10th century already have the participle incentitu; the infinitive encender is first found in Berceo.^[2][3] The earliest CDH hit is in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy), where the Lord's fire burns in the camp of the Israelites: ençendios fuego en el albergada “fire broke out in the camp”.^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose used the verb for lighting a fire, for setting something ablaze, for causing heat and for stirring up war.^[13] Covarrubias in 1611 recorded lighting candles and the oven, encender fuego entre unos y otros “to sow discord”, encenderse en ira “to flare up in anger”, and encendido of a face flushed red.^[14] The Academy dictionaries of the 19th century defined it as making something burn, setting fire, causing heat and, figuratively, inflaming someone's spirit.^[15][16]

With electric light it came to mean “to switch on”: the DRAE of 2001 defined it as connecting an electric circuit, and the DLE now as starting any electrical device.^[17][4] In Mexico Santamaría recorded encender la casa “to light up the house”.^[18] In Cuba it also meant “to beat, thrash”.^[19][20] Caribbean expressions include encendérsele el bombillo “to have a sudden bright idea”.^[21]

Timeline

• 900s – the Glosas Silenses have the participle incentitu.^[2][3]
• c. 1200 – ençendios fuego in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (13th-century copy).^[11]
• c. 1230 – Berceo uses the infinitive and the strong participle enceso.^[2]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses encendida of a heated stone.^[13]
• 1495 – Nebrija records the derivative encendimiento.^[3]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records encender fuego entre unos y otros.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin incendere.^[16]
• 2001 – the Academy adds the sense “to connect an electric circuit”.^[17]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, also reflexive) To light, kindle; to start something burning: Encendió la chimenea al llegar.^[4][1]
2. (transitive) To set fire to, to burn down.^[4]
3. (transitive, also intransitive) To switch on a light or an electrical device: ¿Puedes encender la lámpara?^[4][1]
4. (transitive, also reflexive) To cause a burning sensation.^[4][1]
5. (transitive, also reflexive) To start or stir up a war or conflict.^[4][22]
6. (transitive, also reflexive) To inflame, excite or arouse a feeling.^[4][22]
7. (reflexive) To blush.^[4]

Word family

• encendedor
• encendido
• encendimiento
• encendaja

Related words

• candela
• incendio
• incienso
• Latin incendō
• Catalan encendre
• English incense

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 596
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. encender
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. encender
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. incendō
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4346
8. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 3, 320
9. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 1308
10. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. encender
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. encender
12. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. encender
13. ^ a b 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. encender
14. ^ 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. 733
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 287
16. ^ 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. 423
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. encender
18. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Porrúa, p. 481
19. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 386
20. ^ Suárez, Constantino (1921), Vocabulario cubano, La Habana: Librería Cervantes / Madrid: Perlado, Páez y Compañía, p. 205
21. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. encender
22. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. encender