estómago

Forms

estómago m (plural estómagos)^[1] Old Spanish wrote estomago, without the accent mark.^[1][2] Dialect forms include Salamancan estógamo, with the consonants swapped, and Asturian estómadu.^[3][4][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin stomachus (“gullet; stomach”), which is from Ancient Greek στόμαχος (stómakhos, “throat, gullet”), from στόμα (stóma, “mouth”).^[4][5][6] Corominas calls it a very old learned word whose form became partly popular: he sees it as a stray relic of what Menéndez Pidal called the popular Latin of León.^[4] Wiktionary treats it as inherited through estomago (“maw”).^[1]

The same Latin word is Portuguese estômago, Galician estómago, Catalan estómac, French estomac and Italian stomaco.^[3][7] In northern Italy, Friuli and France its descendants often mean “breast, chest”.^[7]

In Greek the word first meant “throat” (Homer), then “gullet” and the neck of the bladder or uterus in Hippocrates and Aristotle, and only late the upper opening of the stomach and the stomach itself.^[8] It is formed from the word for “mouth” with a suffix also found in οὐραχός (ourakhós).^[8][1] Latin used the noun first for the gullet and then for the stomach, and formed the verb stomachor (“to be irritated”), from which it got the sense “ill humour”.^[9][8] Vox notes that the Greek word first named various openings of the body, being formed on the word for “mouth” in the general sense “opening”.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest record without a later copy is the Escorial manuscript of the Poridat de poridades (c. 1250), which advises combing the hair to drive out los baffos que suben a la cabeça del estomago “the vapours that rise from the stomach to the head”.^[11] The Moamín, a treatise on hunting animals dated 1250 and known from a copy of the later 13th century, speaks of the birds' estómagos growing weak.^[11] Corominas's first record is the Libro conplido of Aben Ragel, of 1256.^[4][5] Alfonso X's Lapidario recommends a stone against diseases of the gullet & otrossi alas del estomago “and also those of the stomach”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The word appears in the 14th-century Libro de buen amor, in Alonso de Palencia, in the Celestina and in Nebrija.^[4] Nebrija's Spanish–Latin vocabulary (c. 1495) separates the mouth of the stomach (Latin stomachus) from the stomach itself (venter), and his Latin–Spanish dictionary of 1492 renders stomachus as el estomago o ira “the stomach, or anger”, the Latin figurative sense.^[13] The Quijote uses it in phrases such as reboluiendosele el estomago “his stomach turning”.^[14]

The Diccionario de Autoridades (1732) recorded a figurative sense “courage, resolve” and the phrase estómago aventurero, for a person who goes from house to house to be at hand at mealtimes.^[15] Terreros (1786–1793) restricted the word properly to the upper opening of the organ.^[16] The Academy's dictionary of 1843 collected many phrases, among them ladrar el estómago “to be hungry” and hombre de estómago “a man of constancy”.^[17]

In modern Spanish the colloquial senses are the capacity to put up with unpleasant things and a lack of moral scruples.^[6] Moliner adds the outer region of the body over the organ.^[18] In the Americas the word is recorded from 1532, in Mexico.^[19] Mexico and Chile say con el estómago pegado al espinazo “starving”, and Argentina and Uruguay call a person who cannot keep a secret an estómago resfriado.^[20] In Argentina silbarle a uno el estómago meant “to be very hungry”.^[21]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – the Poridat de poridades (Escorial manuscript), the CDH's first record without a later copy.^[11]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario names diseases of the stomach.^[12]
• 1256 – Aben Ragel's Libro conplido, Corominas's first record.^[4][5]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin stomachus and venter.^[13]
• 1532 – the first record in the Americas, from Mexico.^[19]
• 1555 – the derivative estomacal is first recorded.^[5]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the figurative sense “courage”.^[15]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary lists ladrar el estómago and hombre de estómago.^[17]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin and Greek etymology.^[22]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) The stomach: the widened part of the digestive tract between the oesophagus (esófago) and the intestine, whose walls secrete the gastric juices.^[6][1]
2. The outer part of the body over this organ, the belly: Le dio un codazo en el estómago.^[18][10]
3. (colloquial) The capacity to bear or do unpleasant things, a stomach for them: Se necesita mucho estómago para aguantar a ese jefe.^[6][10]
4. (colloquial) A lack of moral scruples.^[6]

Word family

• estomacal

Related words

• estoma
• estomagar
• gástrico
• Latin stomachus

Usage notes

An estómago agradecido is a person who serves or supports someone in return for favours or material benefits.^[6][18] A thing that disgusts physically or morally revuelve el estómago.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. estómago
3. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 6348
4. ^ 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, 793
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. estómago
6. ^ a b c d e f 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. estómago
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. estómago
11. ^ 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. estómago
12. ^ 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. estómago
13. ^ 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. estómago
14. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 506
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. estómago
16. ^ 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, 117
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 326
18. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. estómago
19. ^ 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. estógamo
20. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. estómago
21. ^ Garzón, Tobías (1910), Diccionario argentino, Barcelona: Imprenta Elzeviriana de Borrás y Mestres, p. 201
22. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 434