limonada

Forms

limonada f (plural limonadas)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish limón + -ada, the name of the fruit and the suffix of things made from something.^[2][3][4] limón is from Andalusian Arabic ليمون (la(y)mún), from Arabic ليمون (laymūn), which goes back to Persian لیمو (limu).^[5][3][1] Corominas puts the ⟨i⟩ for the Arabic diphthong down to the influence of lima.^[2][3]

The same formation is Catalan llimonada, French limonade and Italian limonata.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest Spanish text in the HSMS with the word is the Toledo edition of Ruberto de Nola's Libro de cocina (1525), a cookery book with Catalanisms; it comes again in the Logroño edition of 1529.^[7][8] The DEMel cites a secondary record from medieval Aragon.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as a drink of water, sugar and lemon juice or peel, and by extension any sweetened drink made with other ingredients; it also recorded limonada de vino, lemonade with a good deal of wine.^[10] Domínguez in 1846 listed fizzy, nitric, sulphuric and tartaric lemonades.^[11] From 1884 the Academy sent limonada de vino to sangría, and in 1899 it added limonada purgante, magnesium citrate dissolved in sweetened water, and limonada seca, a powder of citric acid and sugar.^[12][13] Medicine still uses the word for a liquid preparation flavoured with lemon.^[14]

The word is recorded in the Americas from 1775, in New Granada and Lima.^[15] The phrase ni chicha ni limonada (or limoná) is said of something that is neither one thing nor the other.^[16][1]

Timeline

• 1525 – Ruberto de Nola's Libro de cocina (Toledo edition).^[7]
• 1734 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records it, with limonada de vino.^[10]
• 1775 – first records from the Americas, in New Granada and Lima.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy equates limonada de vino with sangría.^[12]
• 1899 – the Academy adds limonada purgante and limonada seca.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. lemonade: a cold drink of lemon juice, water and sugar: Con este calor, una limonada sienta de maravilla.^[17][16][1]
2. limeade.^[1]
3. A drink made by dissolving powdered citric acid and sugar in water.^[18][13]
4. (dated) Sangria (sangría): lemonade mixed with wine (limonada de vino).^[17][16]
5. (medicine) A liquid preparation flavoured with lemon.^[14]

Related words

• limonero
• French limonade
• Italian limonata

Usage notes

Limonada purgante is magnesium citrate taken as a purgative.^[16] The proverbial ni chicha ni limonada is often said with the clipped form limoná.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 656
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. limón
4. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
5. ^ 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. limón
6. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 135
7. ^ a b 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, p. s.v. limonada
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 408
9. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. limonada
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 407
11. ^ 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. 2, 1093
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 646
13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 604
14. ^ a b Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. limonada
15. ^ 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. limonada
16. ^ a b c d e Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. limonada
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. limonada
18. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. limonada