heroísmo

Forms

heroísmo m (plural heroísmos)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish héroe + -ismo.^[1][2] The BDELC lists it under the base noun and dates it 1765–1783.^[3] The noun is from Latin hērōs, from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “demigod; epic warrior chief”).^[4] Bénaben glosses it with French héroïsme.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is in Cieza de León's Las guerras civiles peruanas (c. 1553–1584), in a speech urging the men to leave their fort and seek the enemy con un heroísmo voluntario “with a willing heroism”.^[6] The next hits are in the Abad de Rute about 1625 and in Feijoo from 1730.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Feijoo used it in the 1730s for the eminent, almost superhuman greatness of spirit of a hero, and wrote of the different classes of heroism.^[6] Salvá (1846) and the Academy (1869) define it as the set of qualities and actions that place someone among heroes, and also as a heroic action.^[7][8] The 1899 edition put first a sense “eminent effort of the will and of self-denial” leading a person to extraordinary deeds in the service of God, neighbour or country.^[9] The DLE now gives the condition of a hero, the quality of being heroic and, mostly in the plural, a heroic deed.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1553–1584 – Cieza de León, the CDH's first hit.^[6]
• c. 1625 – the Abad de Rute.^[6]
• 1730 – Feijoo, Theatro crítico universal, IV.^[6]
• 1765–1783 – the BDELC's date.^[3]
• 1782 – the first record from the Americas, in Guatemala City.^[11]
• 1899 – the Academy defines it as an eminent effort of the will.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. heroism: the condition of a hero (héroe).^[10][1]
2. The quality of being heroic (heroico); courage.^[10][12]
3. (mostly in the plural) A heroic action or deed: Aquel bombero hizo muchos heroísmos sin pedir nada.^[10][1]

Related words

• heroico
• heroicidad
• heroína

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. heroísmo
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. héroe
4. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 349
5. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. heroísmo
6. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. heroísmo
7. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 582
8. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 408
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 523
10. ^ a b c d 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. heroísmo
11. ^ 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. heroísmo
12. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. heroísmo