lego

Forms

lego (feminine lega, masculine plural legos, feminine plural legas)^[1] Old Spanish also had leygo, and Old Leonese llego.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish lego, inherited from Late Latin laĭcus (“not of the clergy”), which is from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós, “of the people; profane”), from λαός (laós, “people”).^[4][5][6][1] Henríquez Ureña describes the change as a series of assimilations, the diphthong /ai/ passing through /ei/ to /e/, with the voicing of the /k/.^[7] The learned doublet is laico, in common use in the 19th century.^[4][5]

The same word is Portuguese leigo, Galician leigo, Old Leonese llego, Catalan llec and Italian laico.^[3][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is in Berceo's Milagros de Nuestra Señora (1220–1250), where the word means a layman, as against a cleric.^[4][5] Berceo's Santa Oria sets the two side by side: mucho buen lego, mucho buen ordenado “many a good layman, many a good ordained man”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The word was common in the Middle Ages, in Juan Manuel and Juan Ruiz among others, mainly as the opposite of clérigo.^[4] Alfonso X's General Estoria speaks of clerigos & legos alike.^[11]

Because only the clergy could read and write, the laity counted as unlearned, and the sense “ignorant, lacking knowledge of a subject” grew from this.^[12] Covarrubias in 1611 said that a man is muy lego when he knows little of church matters.^[13] The Diccionario de Autoridades gave three senses: a layman without the privileges of the clergy, the lay brother or lay sister of a religious house, and a person without learning.^[14] Terreros added that it could mean dull or stupid.^[15]

The law used the formula lego, llano y abonado for a guarantor who had no clerical or noble privilege and owned property.^[16][17] In the Dominican Republic lego is used for a person of little intelligence.^[18]

Timeline

• 1185 – DEMel lists the plural legos in the cartulary of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, before the first record in a literary text.^[2]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo's Milagros de Nuestra Señora, Corominas's first record.^[5][4]
• 1272–1275 – the General Estoria opposes clerigos and legos.^[11]
• 1548 – first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[19]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records muy lego for a man little taught in church matters.^[13]
• 1734 – the Diccionario de Autoridades lists the lay brother and the sense “unlearned”.^[14]
• 19th century – the learned doublet laico comes into common use.^[4]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology laicus.^[20]

Meanings

Adjective

1. lay: not in holy orders; also as a noun, a layman or laywoman.^[6][1]
2. Lacking knowledge of a subject, ignorant: Confieso que soy lego en astronomía.^[6][21][1]

Noun

1. In a religious house, a professed brother who cannot take holy orders, a lay brother.^[6][14]
2. (feminine, lega) A professed nun exempt from choir who does the domestic work of the convent, a lay sister.^[6]
3. (Dominican Republic) A person of little intelligence.^[18]

Related words

• laico
• laical
• Latin laicus
• Portuguese leigo

Usage notes

Lego is also the first person singular present of legar.^[6][1] The toy brick lego, from the brand name Lego, comes from English and has a separate origin.^[1][22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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, p. s.v. lego
3. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 3722
4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 624
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. lego
6. ^ 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. lego
7. ^ Henríquez Ureña, Pedro (2015), Obras completas, vol. 12: 1936–1940 III, ed. Miguel D. Mena, Santo Domingo: Ministerio de Cultura, p. 104
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4853
9. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 5, 120
10. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 435
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. lego
12. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. lego
13. ^ 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. 1074
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 380
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, 433
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 523
17. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1018
18. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. lego
19. ^ 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. lego
20. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 594
21. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. lego
22. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. lego