flotilla

Forms

flotilla f (plural flotillas)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish flota + -illa, a diminutive of the word for a fleet.^[1][2][3][4] flota is from French flotte, from Old Norse floti (“fleet; raft”), a noun of the verb fljóta (“to float”).^[3][2]

According to Corominas the Spanish word passed into French as flottille (by 1723), into Italian as flottiglia and into German.^[3][2] English flotilla was borrowed from it in 1711.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records come from Lima in 1586, for the small fleet that carried the silver from Callao to Panama: the viceroy announced that la flotilla was to sail at the end of the month.^[6] Murúa remarks of these ships that they were called flotillas though they might better be called flotas.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th-century chronicles of the Americas the word is often used of a group of canoes.^[7] The Academy recorded it from 1843 as a group of small vessels for the defence of harbours.^[8] Since 1899 it has defined it more generally as a fleet of small ships.^[9][10] Today it can also mean a small fleet of aircraft or of company vehicles.^[11][12] In Colombia it is a popular name of the plant Tradescantia discolor.^[13]

Timeline

• 1586 – the flotilla of Callao is recorded in documents from Lima.^[6]
• c. 1605–1609 – the account of Quirós's voyage calls a group of ten canoes a flotilla.^[7]
• 1711 – English borrows it as flotilla.^[5]
• 1723 – French has flottille, taken from Spanish.^[3][2]
• 1843 – first in the Academy's dictionary.^[8]
• 1899 – the Academy's current definition, a fleet of small ships.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fleet (flota) of small ships; a flotilla.^[10][1]
2. A small fleet of aircraft or other vehicles.^[11][12]

Related words

• flota
• flotar
• English flotilla

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. flota
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 920
4. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 501
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b 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. flotilla
7. ^ 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. flotilla
8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 346
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 465
10. ^ a b 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. flotilla
11. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. flotilla
12. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. flotilla
13. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 648