energía

Forms

energía f (plural energías)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin energīa (“energy, efficiency”), from Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia, “activity, force in action”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin word is used by Saint Jerome.^[5] The Greek noun is formed from ἐνεργός (energós, “at work, active”), from ἐν (en, “in”) and ἔργον (érgon, “work”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *werg- (“to do, work”).^[1][6]

It is a learned word, as are French énergie (about 1500), Portuguese energia (1563) and Catalan energia.^[7][8][9] Lope de Vega still called it a new word in the Dorotea (1632).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hits are Latin entries in the vocabularies of Palencia (1490), Nebrija (1495) and Fernández de Santaella (1499); Santaella explains energia as “inner act or work, or activity, or efficacy”.^[10] The first use in Spanish prose is in Guevara's Epístolas familiares (1521–1543), for the force God gives to a preacher's tongue that the pen cannot carry: aquel boato y energía que en aquella hora da Dios a la lengua “that pomp and energy which God gives the tongue in that hour”.^[10] Corominas, without these, first records it in Covarrubias (1611) and Paravicino.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word meant the force or inner working of speech: Saravia de la Calle (1544) speaks of the energía o operación interior of the living voice.^[10] Román notes that Autoridades and the classical writers knew only this sense, “power of expression”.^[11] The Academy defined it as “efficacy, activity” in 1843 and added “vigour, strength of will” in 1869.^[12][13] The physical sense, the capacity of a system to do work, measured in joules, is in the modern dictionary.^[4][14] Román objected to the plural energías “strength, efforts” as an imitation of French.^[11] The word passed into Tagalog and Central Bikol as enerhiya.^[1]

Timeline

• 1490 – Palencia's Latin–Spanish vocabulary has a Latin entry energia.^[10]
• 1495 – Nebrija gives energia as the Greek-derived Latin word for “efficacy”.^[10]
• 1521–1543 – first use in Spanish prose, in Guevara's Epístolas familiares.^[10]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records it, the DCECH's first record.^[2][3]
• 1632 – Lope de Vega calls it a neologism in La Dorotea.^[2]
• early 17th century – enérgico is first recorded, in Paravicino.^[2][3]
• 1716 – first record in the Americas, in Guatemala.^[15]
• 1843 – the Academy defines it as “efficacy, activity”.^[12]
• 1899 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin and Greek.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. efficacy, power or ability to act.^[4]
2. Strength, vigour, vitality, also in the plural: Después del viaje no le quedaban energías.^[17][18]
3. Strength of character, firmness: Dirigió el equipo con energía.^[17]
4. (physics) energy, the capacity of a system to do work, measured in joules.^[4][1]
5. Power as a supply, as in energía eléctrica or energía solar.^[18][19]

Word family

• enérgico
• energético

Related words

• energúmeno
• sinergia
• orgía
• liturgia
• Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon)

Usage notes

Phrases of physics include energía atómica or nuclear and energía alternativa for power from sources other than coal, oil or gas.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 611
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. energía
4. ^ a b c d e 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. energía
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. energīa
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. energía
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. énergie
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. energia
9. ^ 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, 337
10. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. energía
11. ^ a b Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 241
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 296
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 309
14. ^ Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. energía
15. ^ 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. energía
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 395
17. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. energía
18. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. energía
19. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. energía