maestría

Forms

maestría f (plural maestrías)^[1] Old Spanish also wrote mahestria, Aragonese mayestría, and the Libro de Alexandre has mestría.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish maestro + -ía.^[5][1][4][6] maestro is the inherited form of Latin magister (“chief, director; teacher”).^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEMel's first record is a Castilian document of 1194 or 1198.^[2] Corominas gives Berceo, where in the Vida de Santo Domingo (c. 1236) a sick man has spent a great deal on vain maestrías, in the sense “remedies, medicines”;^[4][3][8] Cejador read the same line as “art, skill”.^[4][3][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word meant above all the art or skill of a master: the Libro de Alexandre calls verse in counted syllables grant maestría, and the Libro de Apolonio a romance de nueva maestría.^[3] Alfonso X used it for the technique of making a fire to work a stone and, in the General estoria, for a stratagem or trick.^[9] Nebrija translated it with Latin magisterium about 1495.^[10] The Academy's dictionary of 1817 listed the skill in teaching or doing something, the rank of master in the religious orders, and, as obsolete, the office of the master of a ship, a trick, a medicine and a war machine.^[11] In the Americas it named a post or office (the maestría de postas of Lima, 1775) and, in Buenos Aires in 1784, a teaching post.^[12] In Latin America today it is a master's degree and the course leading to it, a sense the Academy added in 2001.^[13][5][14]

Timeline

• 1194–1198 – first record, in a Castilian document.^[2]
• c. 1236 – Berceo uses it for “remedies”.^[4][3]
• 1240–1250 – the Libro de Alexandre calls its verse form a grant maestría.^[3]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for a technical skill.^[9]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives the Latin equivalent magisterium.^[10]
• 1571 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico City.^[12]
• 1869 – the Academy adds the title of master and the old poetic terms arte de maestría mayor and media.^[15]
• 2001 – the Academy adds the postgraduate course and degree.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. mastery, great skill (destreza) in teaching or doing something: Tocó la sonata con una maestría admirable.^[5][16][1]
2. The title of master (maestro).^[5]
3. (chiefly Latin America) A postgraduate course in a particular field; the master's degree obtained by completing it.^[5][1][14]
4. In the religious orders, the rank or dignity of master.^[5]
5. (obsolete) The office of master of a ship.^[5]
6. (obsolete) A trick, deceit or stratagem.^[5][9]
7. (obsolete) A remedy or medicine.^[5][4]

Related words

• amaestrar
• maestral
• maestre
• maestro
• magisterio
• Latin magister

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. maestría
3. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. maestría
4. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 760
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. maestría
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. maestría
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. maestro
8. ^ a b Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1929), Vocabulario medieval castellano, Madrid: Librería y Casa Editorial Hernando, p. 279
9. ^ a b c 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. maestría
10. ^ a b 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. maestría
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 542
12. ^ 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. maestría
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. maestría
14. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. maestría
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 479
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. maestría