establecer

Forms

establecer (first-person singular present establezco, first-person singular preterite establecí, past participle establecido)^[1] Old Spanish also had establir and estabilir, continuing stabiliō directly.^[2][3] Berceo uses establir beside establecer.^[4] The Diccionario de Autoridades notes an older form estabelecer, the form Portuguese still uses.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *stabiliscere, an inchoative verb formed from stabiliō (“to make firm, steady”) with the suffix -ēscere that gives Spanish verbs in ⟨-ecer⟩.^{[7][1][8][9][10]} The Academy's dictionaries of 1884 and 1899 and DICCA-XV derive it instead from the adjective estable.^[11][12][13] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of that adjective, under estar.^[4][14]

The incoative form is shared with Portuguese estabelecer and Asturian establecer, and Galician estabrecer; the other Romance languages continue the Latin verb itself: Catalan establir, Occitan establir, French établir and Italian stabilire.^[15][8][3]

The Latin verb comes from stabilis (“steady, firm”), from stō (“to stand”).^[16][17][18] De Vaan traces the Latin verb to the PIE present Proto-Indo-European *sth₂-eh₁-ie/o- (“to stand”).^[17]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the verb to a charter of 1184.^[4][14] In the early texts of the CDH it means “to decree, ordain”: the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy) has Io establesco que ningun omne … “I decree that no man …”, and the Cortes of Benavente of 1202 Es aun establecido, é dado por juicio “it is also decreed and adjudged”.^[19]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose already uses the verb for founding or instituting something, for ordaining, for settling people in a place and for making up one's mind.^[20] Covarrubias in 1611 defines it only as making laws and ordinances to be kept for ever, and the Diccionario de Autoridades adds “to found, make firm and lasting”, as in founding a religion or a kingdom.^[21][5] The reflexive sense “to settle, take up residence” enters the Academy's dictionary in 1843.^[22] Domínguez in 1846 already lists many more uses, such as establishing a difference or marrying off a daughter well, and complains that the Academy knows only the first two.^[23] Gaspar y Roig add the opening of a business to the public.^[24] The DLE now has the senses “to lay down a principle or theory as proven” and, in the reflexive, “to open a business of one's own”.^[7]

Timeline

• 1184 – first record, in a charter.^[4][14]
• 1202 – establecido “decreed” in the Cortes of Benavente.^[19]
• 1270–1284 – Alfonso X's prose uses it for founding, ordaining and settling.^[20]
• 1554 – first record from the Americas, in Puebla: la capellanía que dexó e estableció Francisco Muñoz.^[25]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it as ordaining laws to be kept for ever.^[21]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary adds the reflexive “to settle somewhere”.^[22]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from estable.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To found, institute, set up: Establecieron una escuela en el pueblo.^[7][26]
2. To order, decree, lay down: El contrato establece un plazo de diez días.^[7][26]
3. To establish a principle, theory or fact as firm and proven.^[7][1]
4. (reflexive) To settle, take up residence somewhere: Se establecieron en Valencia.^[7][26]
5. (reflexive) To set up in business on one's own account.^[7][26]

Word family

• establecedor
• establecimiento
• restablecer

Related words

• estable
• establo
• inestable
• estar
• Latin stabilio
• Portuguese estabelecer
• French établir

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. stabilire
3. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. estar
5. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 620
6. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 1437
7. ^ a b c d e f g 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. establecer
8. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. *stabiliscere
9. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. estabelecer
11. ^ a b 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
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 429
13. ^ 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. establecer
14. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. estable
15. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. stabilire
16. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
17. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
18. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. établir
19. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. establecer
20. ^ 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. establecer
21. ^ 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
22. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 322
23. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 755
24. ^ 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, 939
25. ^ 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. establecer
26. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. establecer