estudiante

Forms

estudiante m or f by sense (plural estudiantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish estudiar + -nte, and was at first the present participle of the verb.^[2][3][1] The verb estudiar, recorded from the first half of the 13th century, is formed from estudio, a learned borrowing of Latin studium (“zeal, application, study”).^[4] studium belongs to studeō (“to devote oneself, strive after”), which de Vaan explains as a stative of Proto-Indo-European *(s)tud- (“to thrust, hit”).^[5][1] Echegaray compared Italian studente, French étudiant and Catalan estudiant.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest hit in the CDH is in the Castigos of 1293, which praise the ancient Greeks: Ca esto ennoblesçio el Reyno delos griegos acuçia de estudiantes & muchedunbre de Sabios “for this ennobled the kingdom of the Greeks: the diligence of students and the multitude of wise men”.^[7] Navarrese documents of 1329 have the plural estudiantes.^[8] Corominas's date is later, 1462.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the participle could still mean “eager, applying oneself to”: Fernández de Heredia writes of peoples estudiantes en senyorearse sobre los otros “intent on lording it over others”.^[7] Salvá (1846) still recorded the old senses “given to study or reading” and “one who inquires into something carefully”.^[9] Covarrubias in 1611 noted that it meant both a pupil who attends lectures and a learned man who never stops studying.^[10] Autoridades said it was used above all of those who attend the universities of Salamanca, Alcalá, Valladolid and Seville, and also of anyone who observes things closely, as in Quevedo's Los Tyranos son grandes estudiantes de los semblantes “tyrants are great students of faces”.^[11]

From 1817 the Academy also recorded a theatre sense, the person who helped actors learn their parts; by 1884 it was marked as past.^[12][13] The 1884 edition added estudiante de la tuna, a member of a student band.^[13] The word was borrowed into Philippine languages, as Tagalog estudyante, Cebuano estudyante and Ilocano estudiante.^[1]

Timeline

• 1293 – the Castigos have acuçia de estudiantes.^[7]
• 1329 – Navarrese documents record estudiantes.^[8]
• 1387 – a royal decree of Juan I lists rectors, doctors, masters, bachelors and estudiantes of a university.^[7]
• 1462 – Corominas's date of first record.^[4]
• 1602 – the first records from the Americas, in Mexico.^[14]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it as “one who studies”.^[10]
• 1817 – the Academy's dictionary adds the theatre sense.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary adds estudiante de la tuna.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A student, a person enrolled in an educational institution: Los estudiantes de química tienen examen el lunes.^[2][1]
2. (historical) A man whose job was to help actors learn their parts.^[2][15]

Adjective

1. Who studies; studying.^[2][1]

Word family

• estudiantil
• estudiantina

Related words

• estudiar
• estudio
• estudioso
• Latin studium

Usage notes

The noun is masculine or feminine with the same form: el estudiante, la estudiante.^[1][3] Estudiante de la tuna is a member of an estudiantina, a traditional student music band.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. estudiante
3. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. estudiante
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. estudio
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 287
7. ^ 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. estudiante
8. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. estudiante
9. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 495
10. ^ 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. 815
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. estudiante
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 399
13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 472
14. ^ 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. estudiante
15. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. estudiante