enseguida

Etymology

It is a compound from Spanish en + seguida, the preposition with the noun meaning “following”, also spelt separately.^[2][1] The noun is a derivative of seguir.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH has the spelling in Fernández de Heredia (1376–1396) and in a Navarrese document of 1502, but in the document it is still a phrase meaning “in pursuit, following”: a man vino alli enseguida de los dichos vascos “came there following the said Basques”.^[5] The adverb “immediately” is clear in the Leyenda de Alejandro Magno (after 1550): Y enseguida mandó el rey… “and at once the king ordered…”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Diccionario de Autoridades records the older adverbial phrase de seguida “consecutively, without interruption”.^[6] In the Americas the adverb is recorded from 1809, when Nueva Vizcaya in Mexico has the popular form aseguida.^[7] It follows in Buenos Aires in 1810, Uruguay in 1813 and Havana in 1829.^[7]

The spelling as one word long met resistance: in Chile Román wrote that the Academy and the best authors did not approve it.^[8] The DLE now enters enseguida as the main form, and en seguida remains an accepted alternative spelling.^[9][1][10]

Timeline

• 1376–1396 – Fernández de Heredia's Libro de actoridades has the spelling enseguida.^[5][11]
• after 1550 – the Leyenda de Alejandro Magno uses it as an adverb, “at once”.^[5]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the phrase de seguida.^[6]
• 1809 – the form aseguida in Nueva Vizcaya, Mexico.^[7]
• 1810 – enseguida in Buenos Aires.^[7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. immediately, right after, in time or in space: Te llamo enseguida.^[9][1][10]

Related words

• seguido
• seguir
• siguiente
• seguida

Usage notes

Both enseguida and en seguida are correct.^[1][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. enseguida
3. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. seguir
4. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 191
5. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. enseguida
6. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 66
7. ^ a b c d 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. aseguida
8. ^ 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. 252
9. ^ a b 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. enseguida
10. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. enseguida
11. ^ Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org, p. s.v. enseguida