joyel

Forms

joyel m (plural joyeles)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French joiel (“jewel”).^[2][3][4][1] The French word comes from Vulgar Latin *iocāle, a derivative of iocus (“jest, game”); the plural iocalia is common for “jewels” in Medieval Latin from the 9th century.^[2][3] The sense went from “game” to “plaything”, “pleasing object” and “jewel”.^[3] The DLE derives it instead from joya, the French source of which is itself a back-formation from the older word.^[5][2]

Corominas sees no need to suppose an Italian route, as Terlingen did: Italian gioiello is itself a Gallicism.^[2] The French word survives as joyau, and Catalan has joiell; English jewel and German Juwel come from its medieval variant joel.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the first record to 1391, and finds the word in Santillana and often in the 15th century.^[2][3] Nebrija glosses joiel, firmalle with Latin emblema.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Covarrubias in 1611 described the joyel as the pendant with one or more precious stones that hangs from a headdress or a ribbon, and noted that a small, neat and cheerful house was called un joyel.^[6] Autoridades (1734) defined it as a small jewel, sometimes without stones, quoting the chronicle of Juan II on a rich joyel with a large balas ruby and three pearls.^[7] The Academy's dictionary of 1869 added that it was usually worn hanging, and since 1884 it has been simply a small jewel.^[8][9] The BDELC calls the word rather old-fashioned today.^[3] Puerto Rican poets used it as if it meant a large jewel case.^[10]

Timeline

• 1391 – first record.^[2][3]
• 1535 – first record in the Americas, at Cartagena.^[11]
• 1611 – Covarrubias describes the pendant and the figurative “small neat house”.^[6]
• 1734 – Autoridades defines it as a small jewel.^[7]
• 1869 – the Academy adds that it is usually worn hanging.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small jewel (joya), especially a pendant or brooch: Llevaba al cuello un joyel de esmeraldas.^[5][6][1]

Related words

• joya
• joyero
• juego

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 529
3. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. joya
4. ^ 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. joyel
5. ^ a b 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. joyel
6. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1016
7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 322
8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 447
9. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 617
10. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. joyel
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. joyel