invisible

Forms

invisible m or f (masculine and feminine plural invisibles)^[1] Old Spanish also wrote ynbesyble and invesible, with ⟨e⟩ for the Latin ⟨i⟩, and jnuisible.^[2][3] Texts from the Americas have envisible and imbisible.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin invīsibilis (“invisible”), a learned borrowing.^[1][5][6] The Latin adjective, first found in Celsus, is formed from in- (“not”) and vīsibilis (“that can be seen”).^[7][6] That adjective comes from vīsus (“sight”), from videō (“to see”).^[8]

Spanish has the simple adjective visible from about 1440, also taken from Latin.^[9] The same Latin word is Italian invisibile, French invisible and Catalan invisible.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in a contemporary manuscript is in Alfonso X's Libro de las formas y de las ymágines (1276–1279), a book of astral magic, which lists a figure pora seer inuisible, “for becoming invisible”.^[11][3] The DEMel has the form ynbesyble already in the Libro de los doce sabios of about 1237.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In 14th-century religious prose the word describes God and the substance of God, as in a translation of Jacobo de Vitriaco's history of Jerusalem: segunt que es Dios sea invesible, “as he is God, he is invisible”.^[3] Covarrubias in 1611 explains hazerse invisible as disappearing or not being seen by those around one, and tells the story of the ring of Gyges.^[12]

The Diccionario de Autoridades recorded the adverbial phrase en un invisible “in an instant”, which the Academy marked as old in 1843 and the DLE still lists.^[13][14][5] Terreros noted the hyperbolic use for someone rarely seen, and Salvá in 1846 the sense “very small and so hard to see”.^[15][16] The DLE's second sense, “who avoids being seen”, continues Domínguez's “who hides so as not to be seen”.^[17][5]

As a noun, invisible names a hairpin that is hidden in the hair in Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay and, now dated, Chile; in Yucatán it was a hairnet or coif.^[18][19] In Puerto Rico the adjective also means “difficult”, of a matter.^[18][20]

Timeline

• c. 1237 – the Libro de los doce sabios has the form ynbesyble, according to the DEMel.^[2]
• 1276–1279 – Alfonso X's Libro de las formas y de las ymágines writes inuisible.^[11][3]
• c. 1350 – the form invesible in a translation of Jacobo de Vitriaco.^[3]
• 1576 – first record in the Americas, in Lima.^[4]
• 1611 – Covarrubias explains hazerse invisible.^[12]
• 1734 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the phrase en un invisible.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary first gives the etymology, from Latin invisibilis.^[21]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That cannot be seen; invisible: El gas es invisible, pero se nota su olor.^[5][1]
2. That avoids being seen; elusive.^[5]
3. (figurative) So small or so well hidden that it is hard to see.^[22][16]
4. (Puerto Rico) Of a matter, difficult, complicated.^[18]

Noun

1. (Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay) A hairpin (horquilla) that does not show in the hair.^[18][22]

Word family

• invisibilidad

Related words

• visible
• ver
• visión
• Latin invisibilis

Usage notes

The phrase en un invisible “in a moment” is in the DLE but was already marked old by the Academy in 1843.^[5][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. invisible
3. ^ 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. invisible
4. ^ 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, p. s.v. envisible
5. ^ 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. invisible
6. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. invisible
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ 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. invisible
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 713
10. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 883
11. ^ 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. invisible
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. 1051
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 304
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 415
15. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 365
16. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 626
17. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 1012
18. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. invisible
19. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 481
20. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. invisible
21. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 607
22. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. invisible