imaginación

Forms

imaginación f (plural imaginaciones)^[1] Alfonso X's works spell it ymagination, later texts ymaginaçion.^[2][3] A popular form maginación is found in Vélez de Guevara's Serrana de la Vera.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin imāginātiō, the noun of action of imāginor (“to picture to oneself”), from imāgō (“image, likeness”).^[5][1][6] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of imagen, beside imaginar, which is taken from the same Latin verb.^[4][7] DICCA-XV treats it as derived from that verb.^[8]

De Vaan derives the Latin noun and imitārī (“to copy”) from an earlier unattested verb meaning “to copy”; its further origin is obscure, though Hittite himma- (“imitation, substitute”) may be cognate.^[9] Corominas also groups imitar and the popular remedar with it.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest hit in the CDH is in Alfonso X's Lapidario (c. 1250, in a copy of the mid-13th century): a stone keeps its wearer from the ymagination a que llaman los omnes demonio, “the phantom that people call a demon”, an image formed by fancy.^[2][3] In the Libro de las estrellas de la ochava esfera (1276–1277) it is one of the four faculties needed for knowledge, after understanding.^[3][2] Corominas dates it only from the early 14th century, in the Libro del caballero Zifar.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

In the Bocados de oro (before 1250, in a 15th-century copy) the wise man speaks through thought, the fool through imaginación.^[2] From the 14th century the plural meant groundless fancies or worries, as in a letter of 1327 about the illness of the Infanta Constanza.^[2] Nebrija gave it as Latin imaginatio.^[8] The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as the power by which the soul represents an object in the fancy, and also as a false apprehension, with the saying La imaginación hace el caso.^[10] The current dictionary adds the ability to form new ideas and projects.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – Alfonso X's Lapidario has ymagination for a phantom.^[2]
• 1276 – Alfonso X's Ochava esphera counts it among the four faculties.^[2]
• early 14th century – the Libro del caballero Zifar, the DCECH's first record.^[4][7]
• 1327 – a letter about the Infanta Constanza, the first hit without a later copy.^[2]
• 1541 – the first record from the Americas, in Peru.^[11]
• 1734 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the saying La imaginación hace el caso.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The faculty of the mind that forms images of real or ideal things; imagination, fancy (fantasía).^[5][1][12]
2. A false belief or groundless suspicion: No te preocupes, son imaginaciones tuyas.^[5][12]
3. An image formed by the fancy.^[5]
4. Inventiveness: the ability to come up with new ideas or projects.^[5][13]

Related words

• imagen
• imaginar
• imaginativo
• imaginario
• Latin imago

Usage notes

Ni por imaginación means “not even in dreams”, and pasársele a alguien algo por la imaginación “to cross someone's mind”.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. imaginación
3. ^ 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. imaginación
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 443
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. imaginación
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. imāginātiō
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. imagen
8. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. imaginación
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. imaginación
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. imaginación
12. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. imaginación
13. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. imaginación