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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word este

este1 east

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1492 Columbus, Diario del primer viaje, as leste
Borrowed from
French est
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *aus-
Etymology tree of este1
inherited borrowed derived
French est
Spanish este

Pronunciation

  • /ˈeste/, [ˈes.t̪e], [ˈe(h).t̪e ~ ˈet̪.t̪e ~ ˈex.t̪e][1]
  • Andalusia: [ˈe(h).t̪(ʰ)e ~ ˈe(h).t̻͡s̪(ʰ)e][1]

Forms

este m (uncountable)[1]

Etymology

The word for “east” is probably borrowed from French est, which is from Old English ēast.[2][3][4][1] The first Spanish form, leste, has the French article joined to it, and French has the word from the 12th century, long before Spanish; for both reasons Corominas holds that Spanish did not take it straight from Old English.[2] French itself borrowed it from Old English about 1140, at first with the article.[5]

The Old English word goes back to Proto-Germanic *austrą and Proto-Indo-European *aus-,[1] an old root that named the dawn or the rising of the sun, as in Ancient Greek ἠώς (ēṓs) and Latin aurora.[2][6] Corominas derives the other cardinal points, norte, sur and oeste, in the same way from Old English through French.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is leste, in Columbus's diary of his first voyage (1492), as a direction of the compass.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The form with the article long remained the usual one at sea: García de Palacio wrote lest in 1587, and Oudin in 1607 entered l'este as the word of the Ocean, beside levante in the Mediterranean.[2] Spanish documents from the Americas already have Este in 1532, beside leste in 1548 and 1581.[7] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1732) has este as one of the four cardinal winds of the compass rose used on the Ocean, the wind from the east,[8][3] and the Academy's 1884 dictionary derived it from German Ost.[9] Today it names the cardinal point, the eastern part of a region, and in apposition anything facing or coming from the east.[4]

Timeline

  • 1492 – leste in Columbus's diary of the first voyage.[2][3]
  • 1532 – Este in a document from Mexico.[7]
  • 1587 – García de Palacio writes lest.[2]
  • 1607 – Oudin records l'este as the word used on the Ocean.[2]
  • 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades enters este as the east wind.[8][3]
  • 1884 – the Academy's dictionary derives the word from German.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. east, the cardinal point where the sun rises at the equinoxes; abbreviated E.[4][1]
  2. The eastern region of a country or area: el este de Asia.[4][10]
  3. The place lying east of another: Valencia queda al este de Madrid.[4]
  4. In apposition, facing or coming from the east: la fachada este.[4][11]
  5. The east wind.[4][11]

este2 this

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1100 a text of the earliest period of the language
Inherited from
Latin iste
Ultimate origin
Latin iste
Etymology tree of este2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin iste
Spanish este
From the same root · este2
Latin istīc ← iste
Latin istō ← iste

Pronunciation

  • /ˈeste/, [ˈes.t̪e], [ˈe(h).t̪e ~ ˈet̪.t̪e ~ ˈex.t̪e][1]
  • Andalusia: [ˈe(h).t̪(ʰ)e ~ ˈe(h).t̻͡s̪(ʰ)e][1]

Forms

este m sg (feminine esta, masculine plural estos, feminine plural estas)[1] The neuter is esto.[1][4] Berceo and Asturian have esti;[12] Old Aragonese and the speech of Soria also had esti, and Asturian has iste.[13][12]

Etymology

The word for “this” is inherited from Latin iste (“that (of yours)”); the Old Spanish form was already este, and the feminine ista and the neuter istud giving esta and esto.[13][3][4][1] In Latin it pointed especially to things near the person spoken to, and could be scornful, so it had the values of Spanish ese rather than of the Spanish word, which moved it to what is near the speaker.[13][6][10]

The same word is Portuguese este, Galician este, Asturian esti, Catalan est, Old French ist, Italian esto and Romanian ăst.[14][12][1] Catalan aquest and Italian questo continue the reinforced form Vulgar Latin *eccum iste, which also gave Old Spanish aqueste.[13][15]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *es-to-, with cognates in Umbrian.[16] The OLD analyses iste as probably is with a particle -te, its declension remodelled on ille.[17]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word to an early text of about 1100, then to the Cantar de mio Cid.[13][3] In the Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) the hero says „¡Esto me an buelto mios enemigos malos!” “this my evil enemies have done to me”,[18] and the Auto de los Reyes Magos (c. 1180) has „todo esto non uale uno figo” “all this is not worth a fig”.[18]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish had este and the longer aqueste side by side;[1] aqueste was still common in the 16th and early 17th centuries, but by then it sounded either archaic and poetic or rustic, and Quevedo called it the worst of words.[13] Juan de Valdés mocked people who filled the gaps in their speech with aqueste;[1] Corominas sees in this the source of today's use of este as a filler word, “er, um”.[13][1]

The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as the demonstrative of what is present, from Latin iste.[8] Placed after the noun it can sound scornful or annoyed (el coche este), and in letters the feminine esta once named the town the writer was in.[19][4][10]

Timeline

  • 1100 – first record, in a text of the earliest period of the language.[13]
  • c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses esto and aqueste.[18][13]
  • c. 1180 – the Auto de los Reyes Magos has todo esto.[18]
  • 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for what is near the speaker.[20]
  • 1513 – Nebrija gives Latin hic, haec, hoc as its equivalent.[21]
  • 1591 – Percyvall glosses este, esta, esto as “he, she, this”.[22]
  • 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades derives it from Latin iste.[8]

Meanings

Determiner

  1. this: near the speaker; also placed after the noun: Pásame este vaso.[4][1]
  2. Just mentioned, or about to be mentioned.[4]
  3. Of a time or place: the one in which the speaker is: esta tarde, en esta ciudad.[4]
  4. Of units of the calendar: the nearest one, past or future: este martes.[4]
  5. (colloquial) Placed after the noun, showing a good or bad opinion of someone or something near the speaker.[4][10]

Pronoun

  1. This one; the person or thing near the speaker: Quiero este, no aquel.[4][1]
  2. The one just mentioned, or about to be mentioned.[4]
  3. (colloquial) The person present or already known, often scornfully.[4]

Interjection

  1. (colloquial) A filler in hesitant speech: “er, um”.[1][13]

Word family

  • estotro

Usage notes

As a pronoun the word was long written with an accent, éste, to set it apart from the determiner; the Academy's 2001 dictionary still prescribed it.[19][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 779
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. este
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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. este
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. est
  6. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. este
  7. ^ 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. est
  8. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 632
  9. ^ 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. 467
  10. ^ a b c d Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. este
  11. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. este
  12. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. iste
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 781
  14. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  15. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 3, 716
  16. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. iste
  17. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. iste
  18. ^ 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. este
  19. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. este
  20. ^ 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. este
  21. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 351
  22. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 139

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

  • norte · also from Old English
  • coraje · also from French
  • anciano · also from French
  • maleta · also from French
  • liar · also from French
  • posar · also from French
  • malla · also from French
  • rol · also from French
Cite this entry

“Este.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/este. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·