linde

Forms

linde m or f same meaning (plural lindes)^[1] Charters spell it limde in 934 and 1156.^[2][3] Old Navarrese has linte and lient, and Asturian llende and llinde.^[4][5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin līmes (“path between two fields; boundary”), through its oblique stem.^[7][1][2] Corominas calls it the popular doublet of the learned límite, which appears only in the 15th century; the BDELC dates it 1438.^[2][3]

The Latin noun is masculine, but the Spanish word has been feminine since the first records.^[2] Corominas notes that the change was easy in a noun of the third declension, and that it is shared by Portuguese linda and Catalan llinda (“lintel”).^[2] The same Latin word is Portuguese linde, Galician linde and Asturian llende.^[4][1]

The Oxford Latin Dictionary takes the Latin word as probably related to līmus (“askew”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Oelschläger records the word as a feminine in a charter of 1074, and the spelling limde in documents of 934 and 1156.^[2][3] The earliest texts in the CDH are local laws: the Fuero de Cáceres (c. 1234–1275) fines whoever breaks through ualladar o linde agena, “another's fence or boundary”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word was used for the boundary between properties and, in a 1246 sale, in the phrase de linde á linde, “from boundary to boundary”.^[5] Alfonso X used it for the frontier of a land and for the edges of a square in the Picatrix.^[9] Nebrija about 1495 gave linde entre eredades with Latin limes and terminus.^[10][5]

Covarrubias in 1611 named lindero as derived from it.^[11] The Autoridades of 1734 called it a noun of either gender, the path that separates one property from another, and also gave an adjectival use, “adjoining”: una tierra linde con another's vineyard.^[12] Today the Academy still lists it as masculine or feminine.^[7] Moliner notes that it is more often feminine.^[13]

Timeline

• 934 – the form limde in a Latin charter from León.^[14][2][3]
• 1074 – linde, as a feminine, in a charter.^[2][3]
• 1213 – the derivative lindero.^[3]
• c. 1234–1275 – the Fuero de Cáceres has linde agena.^[5]
• 1272–1275 – Alfonso X's General estoria uses it for the edge of a land and for the line between properties.^[9]
• 1438 – the learned doublet límite.^[3]
• 1541 – the first record from the Americas, in Puebla.^[15]
• 1734 – the Autoridades defines it as a noun of either gender.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The border of a kingdom or province.^[7]
2. The end or limit of something.^[7]
3. The line or strip that separates one property from another; a boundary: Plantaron chopos a lo largo de la linde.^[7][1][13]

Word family

• lindero
• lindar
• colindar
• colindante
• deslindar
• deslinde
• alindar

Related words

• límite
• limitar
• Latin līmes
• Portuguese linde

Usage notes

Linde is used as both masculine and feminine, more often feminine.^[7][13] The Autoridades also recorded it as an adjective meaning “adjoining”.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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, 656
3. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. límite
4. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 3884
5. ^ 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. linde
6. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. llinde
7. ^ 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. linde
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ 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. linde
10. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 372
11. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1088
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 411
13. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. linde
14. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. linde
15. ^ 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. linde