gracioso

Forms

gracioso (feminine graciosa, masculine plural graciosos, feminine plural graciosas, superlative graciosísimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin grātiōsus (“enjoying favour; obliging”), formed on grātia (“favour, gratitude”) with the suffix -ōsus.^[2][1][3][4] Corominas instead lists it among the derivatives of gracia, itself a semi-learned descendant of the Latin noun, and dates it to Berceo.^[5][6] The Latin noun is formed on grātus (“pleasing; grateful”).^[1][6]

The same Latin word is Portuguese gracioso, Catalan graciós, French gracieux (from gracieus), Italian grazioso and English gracious.^[7][8][9][1] Nascentes calls the Portuguese word semi-learned.^[10] Corominas cites a vocabulary of the mid-15th century that still treats it as a new word circulating in Castile, equivalent to sabroso and donoso.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEMel's earliest records from primary sources are the Fazienda de Ultramar (1200–1250) and the Libro de los doce sabios (c. 1237, graçioso).^[11] The HSMS dates the Fazienda to 1211.^[12] In a text of Alfonso X of 1280 (siglum GE4) a maiden's face is so graciosa that all who see her delight in looking at her: the sense is “full of grace, charming”.^[13]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija renders gracioso by Latin decorus, and Percyvall in 1591 by “gratious, pleasant, comely, thankfull”.^[14][15] Covarrubias gives three senses: one who has a good charm and is pleasant to look at; what is given freely and not owed; and one who says witty things.^[16] Autoridades adds “inclined to do favours” and, by antiphrasis, “absurd”.^[17] The first record from the Americas, in 1493, has the sense “given free”: things were handed out graciosas so that the people would take a liking to the Spaniards.^[18]

The theatrical sense came later: Terreros has the gracioso of a comedy, a buffoon, and the Academy's 1817 dictionary defines the noun as the actor who always plays the servant or another comic part.^[19][20] The ironic use for an annoying person who thinks himself funny is in the DLE as colloquial.^[2] Su Graciosa Majestad is the title of the British monarchs.^[21][1]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – the Fazienda de Ultramar.^[11]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo, Corominas's first record.^[5][6]
• c. 1237 – graçioso in the Libro de los doce sabios.^[11]
• 1280 – Alfonso X's prose: a graciosa face.^[13]
• 1493 – first record from the Americas, “given free”.^[18]
• 1591 – Percyvall glosses it “gratious, pleasant, comely, thankfull”.^[15]
• 1611 – Covarrubias: charming, freely given, witty.^[16]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades adds the ironic sense “absurd”.^[17]
• 1817 – the Academy records the noun for the comic actor.^[20]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology, Latin gratiosus.^[22]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Pleasing or attractive to look at; graceful, charming.^[2][1]
2. Funny, witty, amusing: Nos contó una historia muy graciosa.^[2][1]
3. (formal) Given free, as a favour.^[2][23]
4. (ironic, colloquial) Annoying, tiresome; of a person, one who does something unwelcome: ¿Quién ha sido el gracioso que ha apagado la luz?^[2][1]

Noun

1. A comic actor.^[2]
2. (theatre, historical) In classical Spanish drama, the stock comic character, usually a servant, known for his wit.^[2][21][1]

Word family

• graciosidad

Related words

• agradar
• agradecer
• gracia
• gratis
• gratitud
• grato
• Latin grātiōsus
• English gracious

Usage notes

In the Leonese of some villages a gracioso is a masked figure in ragged clothes who collects money or food for the schoolchildren at a festival.^[24]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. gracioso
3. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 333
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 189
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. gracia
7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. gracioso
8. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. graciós
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 327
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. gracioso
11. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. gracioso
12. ^ Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org, p. s.v. gracioso
13. ^ 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), p. s.v. gracioso
14. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 357
15. ^ a b Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 148
16. ^ 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. 928
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 68
18. ^ 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. gracioso
19. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 230
20. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 447
21. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. gracioso
22. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 537
23. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. gracioso
24. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. gracioso