evitar

Forms

evitar (first-person singular present evito, first-person singular preterite evité, past participle evitado)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin ēvītō (“to avoid, shun”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is made of ex- and vītō (“to move out of the way, avoid”).^[5][6][7]

The origin of the simple verb is uncertain.^[8][1] Walde and Hofmann explained it as “to go out of the way”, with a prefix meaning “apart”; de Vaan prefers a link with invītus (“unwilling”) and the root of vīs (“you want”), from *uih₁-to- (“wished for”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas first found the verb in the Celestina (1490), in the phrase por evitar prolixidad “to avoid long-windedness”, and in the dictionary of Alfonso de Palencia of the same year; in the BDELC he dates it 1438.^[2][3] The CDH has earlier records: a translation of Jacobo de Vitriaco's Historia de Jerusalem abreviada, from after 1350, speaks of being unable to evitar sus engannos “avoid their deceits”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th and 15th centuries the verb was used of avoiding harm, scandals and loss: Juan Fernández de Heredia's Historia troyana has por euitar los scandalos de las guerras.^[9] Cervantes uses it in the Quijote in the phrase por euitar mayor mal “to avoid a greater evil”.^[10] The Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as fleeing or escaping a harm or danger, and records evitar a uno “to keep away from someone”.^[11]

Salvá's dictionary of 1846 and the Academy's of 1869 list an old reflexive evitarse “to free oneself from vassalage”, which the DLE now marks as disused.^[12][13][4] Moliner and Wiktionary also give the reflexive sense “to spare oneself something”.^[14][1]

Timeline

• after 1350 – a translation of the Historia de Jerusalem abreviada: evitar sus engannos.^[9]
• 1376–1396 – Juan Fernández de Heredia uses euitar in his Historia troyana.^[9]
• 1438 – the date Corominas gives in the BDELC.^[3]
• 1490 – the Celestina and Palencia's dictionary;^[2] Palencia also has inevitable.^[2]
• 1528 – the first record from the Americas, in Honduras.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, Latin evitare.^[16]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To prevent a harm, danger or nuisance from happening: La alarma evitó el robo.^[4][14]
2. (transitive) To avoid; to keep from doing or falling into something: Evita comer tarde.^[4][1]
3. (transitive) To shun someone, to keep away from them: Desde la discusión me evita.^[4]
4. (reflexive) To spare oneself something unpleasant.^[14][1]
5. (reflexive, obsolete) To free oneself from vassalage.^[4]

Word family

• evitación
• evitable
• inevitable

Related words

• vitando
• Latin ēvītō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 820
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. evitar
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. evitar
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. evitar
7. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. evitar
8. ^ 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
9. ^ 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. evitar
10. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 511
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro
12. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 497
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 345
14. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. evitar
15. ^ 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. evitar
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 475