enverdecer

Forms

enverdecer (first-person singular present enverdezco, first-person singular preterite enverdecí, past participle enverdecido)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish en- + verdecer, according to García de Diego, DICCA-XV and the Spanish Wiktionary; the Diccionario de Autoridades analysed it as formed directly from verde.^[2][3][4][5] The English Wiktionary derives it instead from Vulgar Latin *invirdesco, a contraction of in- and viridesco (“to grow green”).^[1] The DLE gives no etymology.^[6]

The simple verb is from Late Latin viridesco.^[7][2] The Latin verb is formed from viridis (“green”), the source of the Spanish adjective, with the inchoative suffix -ēscō.^[1][8][9]

Parallel verbs are Italian inverdire, Catalan enverdir, Portuguese enverdecer and Romanian înverzi.^{[1][10][11][12]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the first part of Alfonso X's General Estoria (c. 1275), in the story of the rods placed in the tent: enverdeció la de Aarón e fincaron secas todas las otras “Aaron's grew green and all the others stayed dry”.^[13][14] The sense there is “to turn green again, sprout”.^[14]

Semantic evolution

The verb has always been said of plants and fields that grow green, as the medieval translations of the Bible and of Eiximenis show.^[13][15] The Diccionario de Autoridades already called it little used, and every Academy dictionary since has defined it by the commoner reverdecer.^[5][16][6] It survives in poetry, as in Miguel Antonio Caro's translations of Virgil (1873–1876), and in the regional speech of northern Mexico.^[13][17]

Timeline

• c. 1275 – Alfonso X's General Estoria tells how Aaron's rod enverdeció.^[13][14]
• before 1280 – the third part of the General Estoria has the participle enverdeciente.^[13]
• c. 1400 – a Bible translation has the form enuerdéscase.^[15]
• before 1448 – the Spanish translation of Eiximenis's Libro de las donas uses enverdeçer of a tree.^[13]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades notes that it is little used.^[5]
• 1873 – Miguel Antonio Caro uses it in his translation of Virgil's Georgics.^[13]
• 1947 – a poem from Chihuahua, Mexico, asks why the trees have not enverdecido.^[17]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, of a plant or the countryside) To grow green again; the same as reverdecer: Tras las lluvias enverdeció la ladera.^[6][18][1]

Related words

• verde
• verdecer
• reverdecer
• verdear

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. viridescere
3. ^ 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. enverdecer
4. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. enverdecer
5. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 528
6. ^ 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. enverdecer
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. verdecer
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. viridesco
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. verde
10. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 148
11. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. enverdir
12. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. enverdecer
13. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. enverdecer
14. ^ a b c 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. enverdecer
15. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. enverdecer
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 439
17. ^ a b 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. enverdecer
18. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. enverdecer