hormiga

Forms

hormiga f (plural hormigas)^[1] Old Spanish wrote formiga (13th–14th centuries).^[2][3] Santander and Salamanca have jormiga, with the aspirated /h/.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish formiga, inherited from Latin formīca (“ant”).^[3][5][6][1]

The same Latin word is Portuguese formiga, Galician formiga, Asturian formiga, Catalan formiga, Occitan formiga, French fourmi, Italian formica and Romanian furnică.^[7][4] García de Diego attributes the ⟨n⟩ of forniga and forniga to the influence of Latin furnus (“oven”).^[4]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *mormīkā and compares Ancient Greek μύρμηξ (múrmēx, “ant”), Sanskrit वम्र (vamrá, “ant”), Old Irish moirb and Old English mȳre.^[8][1] The word for “ant” differs from language to language, probably through taboo distortion, and the Latin initial ⟨f⟩ may come from ⟨m⟩ by dissimilation of the two ⟨m⟩ sounds.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in the CDH is in the Moamín (1250, in a copy of the second half of the 13th century), a treatise on hunting birds: tomen de las formigas chicas peso de medio dinero de plata e muélanlas “let them take small ants to the weight of half a silver coin and grind them”, as a remedy.^[2] Corominas's first record is the Conde Lucanor (1328–1335), with formiga.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's Lapidario already uses formiga for a corrosive skin sore, a sense the DLE still lists as an itching skin disease.^[9][6] Nebrija calls the ant animal ceñido “girdled animal”.^[10] The Diccionario de Autoridades calls the ant a symbol of providence, because it stores grain in summer for the winter, and records the slang sense “dice”.^[11] The Academy kept hormigas “dice” as a slang sense in 1843.^[12]

Today hormiga, or more often hormiguita, also names a hard-working, thrifty person.^[13][14] In Puerto Rico it is a disease of the roots of sugar cane.^[15][16]

Timeline

• 1250 – the Moamín has formigas, in a copy of the second half of the 13th century.^[2]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses formiga for a corrosive sore.^[9]
• 1254 – the Judizios de las estrellas tell how small ants together kill a large snake.^[9][2]
• 1328–1335 – Corominas's first record, in the Conde Lucanor.^[3]
• 1495 – the derivatives hormiguear and hormiguero are first recorded.^[5]
• 1532 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico City: Indians came out como hormigas.^[17]
• 1611 – hormiguillo is first recorded.^[5]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the slang sense “dice”.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology “Del lat. formica”.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. ant: a small social hymenopteran insect, usually black, with a narrow waist and elbowed antennae, living in colonies in an anthill (hormiguero).^[6][1]
2. A skin disease that causes itching.^[6]
3. (colloquial) A hard-working, thrifty person; more often hormiguita.^[13][14]
4. (Puerto Rico) A disease attacking the roots of sugar cane.^[15]

Word family

• hormiguero
• hormiguear
• hormigueo
• hormiguillo
• hormiguita

Related words

• fórmico
• formicante
• Latin formīca
• Portuguese formiga

Usage notes

Hormiga blanca is the termite (termita) and hormiga león the antlion.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. hormiga
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 394
4. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. formica
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. hormiga
6. ^ a b c d e 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. hormiga
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c 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. hormiga
10. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 363
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 178
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 394
13. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. hormiga
14. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. hormiga
15. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. hormiga
16. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. hormiga
17. ^ 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. hormiga
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. 575