estipulación

Forms

estipulación f (plural estipulaciones)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin stipulātiō (“a formal promise demanded and given”), a learned word.^[2][1][3] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of estipular, with a first record in the royal ordinances of Castile printed in 1490; the Breve diccionario dates it to the 15th century.^[4][5] The verb itself is taken from Latin stipulor (“to exact a solemn verbal promise”), and appears first in 1233 in a semi-learned Leonese form, astiprar.^[4][5]

That noun is formed from Latin stipulor + -tiō.^[6][1] The OLD and Wiktionary derive the verb from stipula (“stalk, straw”), perhaps from a straw broken as a symbol when the agreement was made, a custom Isidore of Seville describes.^[6][1] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Italic *stipelāō from an Umbrian cognate.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fourth part of Alfonso X's General Estoria (1280) has the plural estipulaciones for the provisions of a deed of purchase, kept with the sealed deed.^[7] A charter of 1347 has the legal formula la estipulaçion e obligaçion, and the Ordenamiento de Alcalá of 1348 uses the word for the formal promise of Roman law.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In late medieval charters the word was part of a fixed formula: debtors bound themselves so firme e solepne estipulaçion “under firm and solemn stipulation”, as documents of 1419 and 1421 put it.^[8] The same formula appears in Puebla in 1540, in the spelling ystipulaçión.^[9] Nebrija's Latin dictionary of 1492 explained stipulatio as the acceptance of what is promised.^[3] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1732) defined it as a promise made with the solemnities of the law.^[10] Terreros added the sense of agreeing on the clauses of a contract, and the Academy's dictionary of 1899 put “verbal agreement” first and noted that Spanish law had abolished the old formulas of the legal promise.^[11][12] In the 19th century the word came into the language of treaties.^[9]

Timeline

• 1233 – the verb is first recorded, as Leonese astiprar.^[4][5]
• 1280 – Alfonso X's General Estoria has estipulaciones.^[7]
• 1347 – a charter has estipulaçion in a legal formula.^[8]
• 1348 – the Ordenamiento de Alcalá uses the word.^[8]
• 1490 – the printed Ordenanzas reales de Castilla, Corominas's first record.^[4]
• 1540 – first record from the Americas, in Puebla.^[9]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as a solemn legal promise.^[10]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary puts the sense “verbal agreement” first.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stipulation, a verbal agreement.^[2][1][13]
2. (law) Each of the provisions or clauses of a public or private document: La tercera estipulación del contrato fija el plazo de entrega.^[2][13]
3. (law, historical) In Roman law, a promise made and accepted orally with prescribed solemn formulas.^[2][13]

Related words

• estipular
• estipulante
• Latin stipulatio

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. estipulación
3. ^ 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. estipulación
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 790
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. estipular
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ 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. estipulación
8. ^ 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. estipulación
9. ^ a b c 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. estipulación
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3
11. ^ 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, 115
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 434
13. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. estipulación