inútil

Forms

inútil m or f (masculine and feminine plural inútiles)^[1] Older texts also have inútile, spelt invtile.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inūtilis (“useless, unserviceable”).^[3][1][4] The Latin adjective was formed from in- (“not”) and ūtilis (“useful”), which de Vaan lists among the derivatives of ūtor (“to use”).^[5][1][6] The Spanish Wikcionario and DICCA-XV instead treat it as formed in Spanish from útil, which the BDELC dates to 1438.^[7][8][9]

The Latin verb of using goes back to Proto-Italic *oit-; de Vaan cautiously compares Ancient Greek οἴσω (oísō, “I will fetch”) and proposes Proto-Indo-European *h₃eit- (“to take along”) with a question mark.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in the CDH is in Juan Fernández de Heredia's Gran crónica de España (1385), of people who were lazy and inutiles ala cosa publica “useless to the commonwealth”.^[10] DEMel cites invtile from the Reglas of Santiago, which it dates to the 13th century.^[2] Corominas's dates are much later: about 1575 (A. de Morales, in Autoridades) in the DCECH and 1515 in the BDELC.^[11][9]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century it is said of things, words and works without profit, as in Villena's inútiles obras of 1424.^[10] Nebrija's Latin–Spanish dictionary of 1492 rendered inutilis as cosa desaprovechada.^[8] Applied to people it is recorded in the Americas from 1520, in Santo Domingo, of a bishop judged of no use, and in 1557 in Mexico of men declared unfit for military service.^[12] Autoridades defined it as what serves for nothing or is not suitable, with a quotation from the Quijote.^[13] The present dictionary adds the senses “unable to work or move because of a physical impediment” and “unfit for military service”.^[3][14]

Through Spanish the word passed into Tagalog as inutil.^[1]

Timeline

• 1385 – Fernández de Heredia, Gran crónica de España.^[10]
• 1424 – Enrique de Villena: inútiles obras.^[10]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin inutilis as cosa desaprovechada.^[8]
• 1515 – the BDELC's first record.^[9]
• 1520 – first record in the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[12]
• 1557 – Mexico: men declared inútiles para la milicia.^[12]
• c. 1575 – A. de Morales, the DCECH's first record.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. useless: of no use, serving no purpose; also of people: Estas herramientas viejas ya son inútiles.^[3][14][1]
2. pointless, vain: of an effort, giving no result: Fue inútil llamarle: no contestó.^[14][1]
3. Of a person: unable to work or move because of a physical impediment; disabled.^[3][15]
4. Of a person: unfit for military service.^[3][14]

Noun

1. A useless person; a good-for-nothing.^[3][1]

Word family

• inutilidad
• inutilizar
• inútilmente

Related words

• útil
• utilidad
• uso
• usar
• Latin inutilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock
3. ^ 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. inútil
4. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b c 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
9. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. uso
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 724
12. ^ a b c Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro
14. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos
15. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial