lentamente

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish lento + -mente, an adverb made from the feminine of the adjective.^[1][2][3] lento is a learned borrowing of Latin lentus (“flexible; sticky; slow”), first recorded in the mid-15th century; the inherited form of the Latin word is the old liento (“damp”), from the Latin sense “sticky”.^[4][5]

The same formation is Italian lentamente, French lentement and Catalan lentament.^[3][6] Autoridades gives Latin lentē as its Latin equivalent.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a letter of Alfonso de Valdés of 1530: El negoçio del Duque de Ferrara se tracta por todas partes muy lentamente, “the Duke of Ferrara's business is being dealt with very slowly everywhere”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the adverb is mostly literary, in Fray Luis de León's translations and in the Italianate verse of Herrera and Argensola.^[8] Corominas notes that it appears in the Quijote (II, 29), where the boat begins to move no tan lentamente, at a time when lento itself was still missing from Percyvall and Covarrubias.^[4][9] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1734) defines it as with slowness, phlegm and leisure; the Academy has given the short definition “with slowness” since 1817.^[7][10] The DLE now defines it as “in a slow way”, and also lets the adjective lento itself be used as an adverb.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 1530 – Alfonso de Valdés writes muy lentamente in a letter.^[8]
• c. 1550–1580 – Fray Luis de León uses it in his translations of classical poetry.^[8]
• 1615 – it occurs in the second part of the Quijote.^[4][9]
• 1734 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives it with Latin lentē.^[7]
• 1817 – the Academy defines it as “with slowness”.^[10]
• 1854 – the first record in Boyd-Bowman's Latin American corpus, from Nicaragua.^[13]

Meanings

Adverb

1. slowly, at a low speed or with little haste: El tren avanzaba lentamente entre los campos.^[11][1]

Related words

• lento
• lentitud
• Latin lentus

Usage notes

In informal Spanish the adjective lento can stand for the adverb: avanzar lento.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 366
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 630
5. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. lento
6. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 101
7. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 384
8. ^ 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, p. s.v. lentamente
9. ^ a b Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 666
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 524
11. ^ 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. lentamente
12. ^ 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. lento
13. ^ 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. lentamente