gobernador

Forms

gobernador m (plural gobernadores, feminine gobernadora, feminine plural gobernadoras)^[1] Old Spanish wrote gouernador or governador, with the ⟨v⟩ of medieval governar.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish gouernador, inherited from Latin gubernātor (“helmsman, pilot”).^[4][1][5] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of gobernar, from gubernō (“to steer a ship; to govern”).^[3][6] The Latin noun is formed of that verb and the suffix -tor, and the Latin verb is a borrowing of Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer”).^[7][3][6]

The same Latin word is Portuguese governador, Galician gobernador, Asturian gobernador, Catalan governador, Occitan governador, French gouverneur and Italian governatore.^[1][8][9] The French word comes through gouvreneur.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Berceo's Himnos (1220–1250).^[3][6] In the prose of Alfonso X (about 1256) the word means both “one who governs”, in the feminine sennora & gouernadora said of a ruling planet, and “rudder”, of the half ship in a constellation that has el su gouernador.^[10] The Gran Conquista de Ultramar also uses it for the rudder of a ship.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Latin gubernator was the helmsman of a ship and, figuratively, a director or ruler,^[7][11] and the medieval verb gobernar still meant mostly “to steer”.^[3] Autoridades (1734) defines him as one who directs a thing towards its end, and as the superior who commands his inferiors for the public good; it also records the gobernador del Consejo, who presided over the council without the title of president.^[12]

In the Americas the word occurs from 1515, in Tierra Firme, and was the title of the governors of the colonial provinces.^[13] The Academy added the feminine gobernadora, the governor's wife or a woman who rules a realm, in 1843, and the head of the administration of each province in 1869.^[14][15] Today the governor of a province, city, territory or federal state is the main sense, beside the head of certain public bodies such as a central bank.^[4][16] In Colombia and Ecuador the word names the chief of the Cayapa people, and in Honduras a speed governor fitted to lorries.^[17] It was borrowed into Tagalog as gobernador and into Basque as gobernadore.^[1]

Timeline

• 1220–1250 – Berceo's Himnos, the first record.^[3][6]
• c. 1256 – Alfonso X's prose uses the word for a ruler and for a ship's rudder.^[10]
• 1515 – the first record from the Americas, in Tierra Firme.^[13]
• 1734 – Autoridades defines the word and the gobernador del Consejo.^[12]
• 1843 – the Academy adds the feminine gobernadora.^[14]
• 1869 – the Academy adds the head of the administration of a province.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin etymology.^[18]
• 1917 – Alemany distinguishes civil, military and ecclesiastical governors.^[19]

Meanings

Adjective

1. governing, that governs: el partido gobernador.^[4][1]

Noun

1. A governor: a person who is in charge of a province, city, territory or federal state.^[4][1][16]
2. The head appointed by the government to certain public bodies, such as a central bank.^[4][16]
3. (Colombia, Ecuador) The chief of the Cayapa people.^[17]
4. (Honduras) A device fitted to some lorries that limits their speed and working hours.^[17]
5. (feminine, rare) The governor's wife.^[4]

Word family

• gobernadorcillo

Related words

• gobernar
• gobierno
• gobernalle
• gubernativo
• Latin gubernātor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. gobernador
3. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 156
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. gobernador
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 3156
6. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. gobernar
7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. governador
9. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. governador
10. ^ a b 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)
11. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 308
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 56
13. ^ 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. gobernador
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra
16. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. gobernador
17. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. gobernador
18. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 534
19. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena