finalmente

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish final + -mente, the adjective with the adverbial suffix.^[1][2][3] The adjective is from Late Latin fīnālis, from fīnis (“boundary, end”).^[4][3]

Corominas dates the adjective itself only to the early 15th century, in the Cancionero de Baena, while the CDH records the adverb from about 1250.^[5][6][7] Echegaray compares Italian finalmente, French finalement, Occitan finalment and Catalan finalment.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is the Aragonese Vidal Mayor (c. 1250), in the form finalment: por tal que cerqua esto sea toillida carrera de questión finalment “so that in this matter every way of dispute is finally removed”.^[7] The Siete Partidas of Alfonso X (1256–1265) have finalmente.^[9]

Semantic evolution

From the first records the adverb means “in the end, at last” and introduces the last step of a story, as in the Libro del cavallero Cifar and the letters of 1304–1305 between Aragon and Castile.^[7] Nebrija gave Latin tandem, demum and denique as its equivalents, still writing final mente as two words.^[10][3] The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as “lastly, in conclusion” and noted that it is used especially to bring a speech to an end.^[11] Domínguez added a colloquial sense, “when all is said and done”.^[12] Moliner distinguishes “last of all” or “after many ups and downs” from the use that introduces a final decision.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – the Vidal Mayor has finalment.^[7]
• 1256–1265 – the Siete Partidas have finalmente.^[9]
• 1296 – the form hinalmentre in a charter of the Carrizo collection.^[9]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija writes final mente.^[10][3]
• 1545 – the first record from the Americas, in the Río de la Plata.^[14]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it.^[11]

Meanings

Adverb

1. finally, lastly, in the last place: Finalmente, quiero dar las gracias a todos.^[15][1]
2. At last, after a long time or many difficulties: Finalmente llegamos al pueblo.^[1][13]
3. In short, in conclusion, introducing a decision.^[13][12]

Related words

• final
• fin
• finalizar

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. finalmente
3. ^ a b c d 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. finalmente
4. ^ 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. final
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 900
6. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. fin
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. finalmente
8. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 395
9. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. finalmente
10. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 354
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 755
12. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 811
13. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. finalmente
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. finalmente
15. ^ 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. finalmente