enemistad

Forms

enemistad f (plural enemistades)^[1] Old Spanish forms include enemiztad, enemizad, enamiztad and enemizdat.^[2] The Fuero Juzgo has inimizdad, and the Libro de Alexandre enemizat.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish enemiztad, inherited from Vulgar Latin *inimīcitās (“enmity”), which replaced Latin inimīcitia.^[4][5][6][1] The Vulgar Latin noun was built on inimīcus (“personal enemy”) with the suffix of amīcitia in its popular form, as amistad continues *amīcitās.^[6][1][7] The Latin adjective is formed from the negative prefix in- and amīcus (“friend”).^[8][1]

The same word is Portuguese inimizade, Catalan enemistat and Italian nemistà.^[1][9][10] The Academy's dictionaries of 1899 and 1917 explained it instead as the word for friendship with a privative prefix en-.^[11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in the CDH is in Almerich's La fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy): Este Erodes ovo grand enemiztad con Pilatus, e a la passion de Jhesu Christo amigaron “this Herod had a great enmity with Pilate, and at the Passion of Jesus Christ they became friends”.^[13] Corominas's first record is Berceo, and the BDELC dates the word to the first half of the 13th century.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word could also mean an opposition between things: Alfonso X's Lapidario speaks of a stone that leaps away from milk because of the enemiztad it has with it by nature.^[14] Nebrija distinguished enemistad publica (Latin hostilitas, simultas) from private enmity (inimicitiae).^[15][16]

The 1732 Autoridades defined it as the opposition of two people whose wills are at odds, and said it was taken from Latin inimicitia.^[17] Terreros added the opposition of inanimate things.^[18] Since 1869 the Academy has defined it as aversion or hatred between two or more people.^[19][6]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – enemiztad in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar.^[13]
• Early 13th century – enemizad in the Fuero de Coria.^[2]
• 1228–1246 – Berceo: the devil metió a Caín en fuert enemiztad “put Cain in fierce enmity”.^[13][4]
• 1250–1279 – the Lapidario uses it for the antipathy between substances.^[14]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin equivalents for public and private enmity.^[15]
• 1505 – the verb enemistar (the BDELC's date; the DCECH has 1538, Guevara).^[5][4]
• 1528 – first record from the Americas, in Nicaragua.^[20]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades derives it from Latin inimicitia.^[17]
• 1869 – the Academy's definition “mutual aversion or hatred between two or more people”.^[19]

Meanings

Noun

1. enmity, hostility: aversion or hatred between two or more people: Entre las dos familias hubo enemistad durante generaciones.^[6][1][21]

Word family

• enemistar

Related words

• enemigo
• amistad
• Latin inimīcitia
• Portuguese inimizade

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. enemistad
3. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. enemistad
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 232
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. amar
6. ^ 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. enemistad
7. ^ 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. amistad
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. s.v. enemistad
10. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. s.v. inimicitia
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 395
12. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 660
13. ^ 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. enemistad
14. ^ 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. enemistad
15. ^ a b 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. enemistad
16. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 344
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, s.v. enemistad
18. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 39
19. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 309
20. ^ 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. enemistad
21. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. enemistad