fenecer

Forms

fenecer (first-person singular present fenezco, first-person singular preterite fenecí, past participle fenecido)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Old Spanish fenir (“to end”) + -ecer, adding the suffix of inchoative verbs to the older verb.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary describes it as the older verb restructured into another conjugation.^[1] fenir continues Latin fīniō (“to mark the bounds of; to end”).^[1][6] The 1884 Academy dictionary called fenecer an inchoative of the Latin verb.^[7]

The Latin verb also gave Italian finire, Old French fenir, Catalan finir and Old Portuguese fiir, and Portuguese fenecer was formed as in Spanish.^[8] Old Aragonese had the form fenexer.^[6] finir, recorded from Juan de Mena, is a later learned form, now used in Venezuela, Colombia and Chile, where Corominas suspects French influence.^[2]

The Latin verb is formed from fīnis (“boundary, limit; end”).^[9] The noun's own origin is disputed: one view connects it with fīgō (“to fix”), another with findō (“to split”).^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the verb c. 1250, from the Setenario.^[2][3] The CDH has an earlier record in the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250): knights and foot soldiers are not to be shortened fasta que la lid sea feneçida “until the combat is over”.^[11] The other early law codes use it for a lawsuit that is concluded.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X used it for coming to an end, for bringing something to an end and, in the General Estoria (1280), for dying.^[12] Corominas calls it very frequent in the Middle Ages.^[2] Covarrubias explained feneció as “he died”, and fenecer cuentas as settling accounts.^[13] The Diccionario de Autoridades gave the three senses that the Academy still lists: to end, to die, and transitively to conclude.^[14][4] Corominas notes that it already sounded archaic in the Quijote but survives in rural speech.^[2] The DLE marks the transitive use as rare.^[4]

Timeline

• 1218–1250 – the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes has the participle feneçida.^[11]
• c. 1250 – the Setenario, Corominas's first record.^[2][3]
• 1272–1275 – Alfonso X's General Estoria uses it for ending.^[12]
• 1280 – the fourth part of the General Estoria uses it for dying.^[12]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija renders it with Latin desino, finio and termino.^[15][16]
• 1495 – the noun fenecimiento is first recorded.^[3]
• 1515 – the first record from the Americas, for closing accounts in Puerto Rico.^[17]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records fenecer cuentas.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy calls it an inchoative of Latin finire.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, rare) To conclude, bring to an end: El tribunal feneció el pleito en una sola sesión.^[4][1]
2. (intransitive) To die, perish: Su bisabuelo feneció en la guerra.^[4][1]
3. (intransitive) Of a thing: to come to an end, expire: El plazo para reclamar fenece el lunes.^[4][18]

Word family

• fenecimiento

Related words

• fin
• finir
• finito
• finar
• Latin fīniō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 900
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. fin
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. fenecer
5. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. finire
7. ^ 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. 492
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. finire
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. fenecer
12. ^ a b c 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. fenecer
13. ^ 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. 1, 837
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 735
15. ^ 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. fenecer
16. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 353
17. ^ 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. fenecer
18. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. fenecer