estable

Forms

estable m or f (masculine and feminine plural estables)^[1] Old Spanish had stabile, estabile, estabele and estable.^[2][1] DEMel also records estaule, estauble and estavre.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin stabilis (“standing firm, steady”).^[2][4][5][1] The Latin adjective is formed from stō (“to stand”) with the suffix -bilis.^[6] Wiktionary notes that in Spanish it now looks like estar with the suffix -able.^[1]

Portuguese estável, which Nascentes calls semi-learned, Asturian estable and Galician estable come from the same Latin word.^[7][8][1] Echegaray already compared Occitan estable, Catalan estable and Italian stabile.^[9] Its relatives in Spanish include establo, from stabulum, and establecer.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the form stabile in the Fuero de Avilés of 1155;^[2][4] estable is found in a document of 1200 and then in Berceo.^[2][4] Early charters use it in the formula firme & estable, as in a deed of exchange that is to be firme & estable por siempre “firm and stable for ever”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

An astrological work of Alfonso X (1256) speaks of a man non estable en sus conseios “not steady in his counsels”.^[11] The legal formula went to the Americas: in 1528 a document from Nicaragua binds the parties to hold the deed firme, rato e grato, estable y valedero.^[12] Covarrubias defined it as what is firm and lasting, and the Diccionario de Autoridades as permanent, durable, constant, quoting a pun of Lope de Vega on estable and establo.^[13][14]

The Academy kept that definition through its 1899 edition; the DLE now distinguishes what does not risk changing or falling, what stays long in one place, and what keeps or regains its balance.^[15][5] In medicine a patient is estable when the condition has not changed for some time.^[16]

Timeline

• 1155 – stabile in the Fuero de Avilés.^[2][4]
• 1200 – the form estable in a document.^[2]
• 1256 – an astrological work of Alfonso X.^[11]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin stabilis and firmus.^[17]
• 1528 – first record from the Americas, in a legal formula from Nicaragua.^[12]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it as what is firm and lasting.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, from Latin stabilis.^[18]

Meanings

Adjective

1. stable, steady: not in danger of changing, falling or disappearing: un empleo estable.^[5][1]
2. Staying in one place for a long time: un huésped estable de la pensión.^[5][19]
3. Keeping or regaining its balance (equilibrio): una bicicleta muy estable.^[5]
4. (medicine) Of a patient or illness: showing no change for better or worse for some time.^[16]

Word family

• estabilizar
• inestable

Related words

• estar
• establo
• establecer
• estabilidad
• Latin stabilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. 2, 776
3. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. estable
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. estar
5. ^ 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. estable
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. estável
8. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. estable
9. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 250
10. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. estable
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. estable
12. ^ 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. estable
13. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 800
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 620
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 429
16. ^ a b Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. estable
17. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 350
18. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 463
19. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. estable