lista

Forms

lista f (plural listas)^[1]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *lista, a borrowing from Proto-West Germanic *līstā (“strip, band, border”).^[2][3][1] Corominas notes that the word is already in the Latin glossary ascribed to Philoxenus, written in southern Italy by the 6th century at the latest.^[2] Because the word is common to Italian, Gallo-Romance and Ibero-Romance, he thinks it more likely to have entered Vulgar Latin from common West Germanic, perhaps with other words for military dress, than from Frankish *līsta, as Gamillscheg proposed.^[2] Wiktionary names Frankish or Lombardic as the source.^[1]

The Germanic word is Old High German līsta, German Leiste “strip, edge, batten”, Old English līste “border, hem”, Old Norse lista “edge” and English list “strip, selvage”.^[2][3][4] The Spanish dictionary of the Academy also cites the Old High German and Old Norse forms.^[5] Its further origin is uncertain: Wiktionary suggests a link with Proto-Germanic *laist- (“track, trace”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to trace, track”).^[1]

The same word is Portuguese lista and Portuguese listra, and Italian lista.^[6][7] The sense “list” comes from a strip of paper with names written on it.^[2] Bénaben suggests either that path or a borrowing of that sense from Italian.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is in the Libro de Alexandre (1240–1250, in a copy of the early 15th century), describing Philomela: Avié las sobreçejas como listas de seda “she had eyebrows like strips of silk”.^[8] Alfonso X's Setenario (c. 1252–1270) has dos listas que cuelguen “two bands that hang down” on a vestment.^[8] Corominas dates the first record to the second half of the 14th century, in the Libro de miseria de omne, and notes that Juan Ruiz's listado “striped” shows the noun already existed.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Around 1400 the glossaries of Toledo and of the Palacio use it for a selvage, ribbon or band.^[2] Alfonso de Palencia speaks of a stone with black stripes, and Nebrija equates it with the edging of a headdress.^[2][9] In the first half of the 16th century Cristóbal de Castillejo used por la lista “by the look of it”, which probably first referred to cloth.^[2] The sense “catalogue, roll” appears in Ambrosio de Morales in 1575 and in the Quijote.^[2][3]

Covarrubias in 1611 defined it as a narrow coloured ribbon, a wide one being a listón; because such a ribbon is straight like a rule, he says, it came to mean things set in a row, whence soldiers alistarse “enlist”, and he confessed that he did not know its origin.^[10] Autoridades gives the strip of cloth or paper, the coloured stripe and the roll of names, as of soldiers or the post office.^[11] The Academy added the roll call by 1884, used mainly in the army, and the 1884 edition derived the word from Old High German lista.^[12]

In 1525 a horse in Mexico City has una lista en la frente “a blaze on its forehead”, and by 1570 Peruvian soldiers are counted por lista “by the roll”.^[13] In Cuba vender una lista means to walk past the person one is courting.^[2] Phrases of today include lista negra “blacklist”, lista de correos “poste restante”, lista de boda “wedding list” and pasar lista “to call the roll”.^[14][5]

Timeline

• 1240–1250 – the Libro de Alexandre compares eyebrows to listas de seda.^[8]
• c. 1252–1270 – Alfonso X's Setenario uses it for bands on a vestment.^[8]
• 1335 – the derivative listado “striped” is first recorded.^[3]
• 2nd half of the 14th century – Corominas's first record, in the Libro de miseria de omne.^[2][3]
• c. 1400 – the glossaries of Toledo and Palacio gloss it as selvage or band.^[2]
• 1525 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico City.^[13]
• 1575 – the sense “catalogue, roll” is first recorded, in Ambrosio de Morales.^[2][3]
• c. 1600 – first records of listón “ribbon” and of alistar “to enlist”.^[3]
• 1611 – Covarrubias says he does not know its etymology.^[10]
• 1734 – the sense “strip of paper with a catalogue of names”.^[3]
• 1884 – the Academy derives it from Old High German.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A strip of cloth, paper, leather or another material.^[5][11]
2. A stripe: a long narrow line of another colour, natural or artificial, especially in a fabric: una camisa con listas rojas.^[5][14][1]
3. A list, roll or roster: names, things or amounts set down one after another, usually in a column: Hice una lista de lo que falta en la nevera.^[5][1]

Word family

• listado
• listón
• alistar
• listar
• listero

Related words

• listel
• English list
• Portuguese listra

Usage notes

A listas means “striped”, and lista civil is the allowance granted to the monarch and the royal family in the State budget.^[14][5] In Leonese, mostly in the plural, listas are the awns of the ears of cereals.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 669
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. lista
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
5. ^ 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. lista
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 3914
7. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. lista
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. lista
9. ^ 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. lista
10. ^ 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. 1090
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 416
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. 649
13. ^ 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. lista
14. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. lista
15. ^ 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. lista