envolver

Forms

envolver (first-person singular present envuelvo, first-person singular preterite envolví, past participle envuelto)^[1] Old Spanish usually wrote enbolver or embolver, with the participle enbuelto;^[2][3] Nebrija still writes embolver, and Asturian has engolver.^[2][3] It is conjugated like volver: envuelvo, envolví, past participle envuelto.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin involvō (“to roll in; to wrap up”), from in- (“in”) and volvō (“to roll, turn”).^[4][1][2][5] The simple Latin verb is the source of volver.^[2]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese envolver, Galician envolver, Catalan envoldre, Old French envoudre, Italian involgere and Romanian învoalbe.^[6][7]

De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Italic *welu- and Proto-Indo-European *welu- (“to wind”), with the cognate Ancient Greek εἰλύω (eilúō, “to wind round”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy), where the Moorish patrols enbueltas andan en armas “go about engaged in arms”, day and night.^[9][2][10] The sense of wrapping appears in Berceo's Vida de San Millán (c. 1230), in which the newborn child is taken to church embuelto en sos paños “wrapped in his swaddling clothes”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose already has most of the modern senses: to cover or wrap an object, to mix or combine, to get involved in a matter (non uos emboluades en los sus peccados “do not get mixed up in their sins”) and to be caught up together in battle.^[11] Juan Ruiz uses the reflexive as a euphemism for a love affair.^[2][12]

The Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as rolling something up, and gives envolver a uno con razones “to tie someone up with arguments”.^[13] In 1843 the Academy recorded the reflexive senses “to get mixed up in something”, “to take up with women” and “to mingle among others, as in battle”, and Gaspar y Roig the military envolver al enemigo “to surround the enemy”.^[14][15] The derivative desenvoltura (1444) was borrowed into Italian as disinvoltura in the 17th century, and French then took désinvolture from Italian.^[16][2] In the Spanish of the United States envolverse is also used for “to get involved”, after English involve.^[17]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has enbueltas andan en armas.^[9][10]
• c. 1230 – Berceo's Vida de San Millán has a newborn embuelto en sos paños.^[9]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for wrapping tin round a stone.^[11]
• 1444 – first record of desenvoltura.^[16]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives embolver as Latin voluo and inuoluo; envoltorio and desenvolver are first recorded.^[18][16]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records envolver a uno con razones.^[13]
• 1843 – the Academy records the reflexive senses.^[14]
• 1853–1855 – Gaspar y Roig record the military envolver al enemigo.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To wrap: to cover an object partly or wholly with cloth, paper or the like: Envolvió el libro en papel de seda.^[4][1]
2. (transitive) Of a thing: to surround or shroud another on all sides, also figuratively: Una bruma espesa envolvía el puerto.^[4][19]
3. (transitive) To swaddle a baby.^[4]
4. (transitive) To wind thread or ribbon onto something.^[4]
5. (transitive) To corner someone in an argument with reasonings or sophisms.^[4]
6. (transitive, also reflexive) To involve or implicate someone in a matter: Lo envolvieron en un fraude fiscal.^[4][1]
7. (transitive, military) To outflank the enemy's line and attack it from the side or rear.^[4]
8. (reflexive) Of two people: to have an affair (liarse).^[4]
9. (reflexive) To mingle with others, as in battle.^[4]

Word family

• desenvolver
• envolvimiento
• envoltorio
• envoltura
• envolvente

Related words

• volver
• involucrar
• Latin involvō
• Portuguese envolver

Usage notes

In the Spanish of New Mexico, Illinois and Florida envolverse “to get involved” is an anglicism;^[17] implicarse and involucrarse are the alternatives.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 839
3. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. envolver
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. envolver
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. envolver
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. involvere
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. involvere
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ 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. envolver
10. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. volver
11. ^ 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. envolver
12. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1929), Vocabulario medieval castellano, Madrid: Librería y Casa Editorial Hernando, p. 203
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 531
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 306
15. ^ a b Gaspar y Roig (eds.) (1853–1855), Biblioteca ilustrada de Gaspar y Roig: Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Imprenta y Librería de Gaspar y Roig, p. 1, 884
16. ^ a b c Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 397
17. ^ a b c Moreno-Fernández, Francisco (2018), Diccionario de anglicismos del español estadounidense (Informes del Observatorio 037-01/2018SP), Cambridge, Mass.: Instituto Cervantes at Harvard University, p. 56
18. ^ 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. envolver
19. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. envolver