ingle

Forms

ingle f (plural ingles)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin inguen (“groin; swelling in the groin”), through its accusative form.^[2][3][4][1] Corominas explains that *ingne became the present form or ingre by dissimilation, since the cluster /ŋgn/ could not be pronounced; the ⟨i⟩ from Latin short /i/ is due to the following cluster, as in yunque.^[2][3]

The Latin word survives in all the western Romance languages except Galician-Portuguese, which replaced it with Portuguese virilha (compare verija); dialects in Galicia keep éngoas from the plural.^[2] The same word is Italian inguine and French aine; Catalan engonal comes from a derivative.^[5][6][2]

De Vaan reconstructs an Indo-European stem in -n- meaning “the naked one”, related to nūdus (“naked”), and compares Ancient Greek ἀδήν (adḗn, “gland”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first certain record is Alfonso X's Lapidario (1250–1279): Et quien ouiere dolor en la ingle “and whoever has pain in the groin”.^[8][9][10] Earlier CDH hits are not this word: donna Ingles in a charter of 1237 is a personal name, and ingles in a 1258 ordinance is English cloth.^[9] Corominas, without these texts, dates it from the Escorial glossary of about 1400.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Medieval texts use it of people and of horses: a horse swollen en las ingles shows a sign of death.^[9] Alfonso de Palencia wrote ingre, and Percyvall in 1591 gave both forms.^[2][11] Covarrubias noted that the Latin word was found only in the plural.^[12] Autoridades defined it as the joint of the thigh and the belly, quoting the surgeon Fragoso on swollen glands of the groin and armpits.^[13] The Academy's definition has stayed the same since 1817.^[14][4] Medicine distinguishes the region of the lower abdomen and the skin fold between thigh and abdomen.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – ingle in Alfonso X's Lapidario.^[8][9]
• c. 1275 – the Libro de los caballos speaks of a horse swollen in the groin.^[9]
• c. 1400 – the Escorial glossary;^[16] Corominas's first record.^[2][3]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia writes ingre.^[2]
• 1532 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico.^[16]
• 1591 – Percyvall gives ingle and ingre.^[11]
• 1611 – Covarrubias notes the Latin plural.^[12]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades derives it from Latin inguen.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) The groin, where the thigh joins the belly: Sentía un tirón en la ingle al correr.^[4][1]
2. (medicine) The inguinal region of the lower abdomen; also the skin fold between the thigh and the abdomen.^[15]

Related words

• inguinal
• verija
• Latin inguen
• French aine

Usage notes

The variant ingre was used from the 15th century and is still heard in Burgos.^[2][17] The learned adjective is inguinal.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 451
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ingle
4. ^ a b c 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. ingle
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. aine
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ 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. ingle
9. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. ingle
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins
12. ^ 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. 1046
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 271
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 494
15. ^ a b Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es
16. ^ 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
17. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ingle