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manera

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word manera

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1152 a charter of Nájera, spelt maneira More words from the 12th century
Inherited from
Latin manuaria via Old Spanish
Ultimate origin
Latin manus

Pronunciation

  • /maˈneɾa/, [maˈne.ɾa][1]

Forms

manera f (plural maneras)[1] The earliest record, a Nájera charter of 1152, has maneira;[2] manera appears in a charter of 1209.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish manera, inherited from Vulgar Latin manuaria, the feminine of Latin manuārius (“manageable”).[2][3][4][1] The Latin adjective came to mean “skilful, handy”; its feminine took the sense “skill, knack”, then “skilful procedure”, and finally “the proper way of doing something”.[2][3] The adjective is formed from manus (“hand”) and the suffix -ārius.[1][5]

Corominas rejects Meyer-Lübke's view that the Castilian word was taken from Old Occitan maniera: the Spanish word is a popular and very frequent word in the oldest authors, in more general use in Ibero-Romance than in French, where it competes with synonyms, and he follows A. Castro in rejecting the loan.[2] Old Spanish also had manero (“agent, representative”), from the same Latin adjective.[2][6]

The same word is Portuguese maneira, Galician maneira, Catalan manera, Occitan manièra and French manière.[2][1] Corominas does not accept a Provençal origin for the Portuguese word either, since ⟨n⟩ is kept between vowels in the same way in janeiro from Latin Iānuārius.[2] The French word is the noun use of the feminine of the Old French adjective manier (“handled; tame; skilful”), recorded about 1119.[7] Italian maniera is an old Gallicism.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is maneira in a Nájera charter of 1152.[2][3] The earliest example in the CDH that is not known from a later copy is in the Cortes de Benavente of 1202: „en otra manera tobieren las heredades” “(if) they held the estates in another way”.[8]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “way, manner” is the commonest from the start, in phrases such as de grant manera “greatly” in the Libro de Apolonio and de fiera manera in Berceo.[2] Alfonso X's Lapidario also uses it for “kind, sort” (alguna otra manera de tossico “some other kind of poison”) and in a manera de “like” and de manera que “so that”.[9] The Partidas set maneras, a person's natural qualities, beside costumbres, the virtues acquired by long use.[10] Medieval Catalan still had the older senses “skill” and “moderation”.[2]

From the 15th century it also named the cut of a garment and an opening in it: Nebrija has manera de vestidura, Covarrubias (1611) a slit in a garment to put the hand through, and Autoridades (1734) a pocket and the fly of breeches.[2][11][12] The Academy added the painter's or sculptor's style in 1817.[13] The garment senses are now obsolete.[4] The derivative amanerado “mannered” (1708) imitates Italian manierato.[2][3]

In Cuba manera is a strip of cloth that finishes the edges of an opening in a garment.[14]

Timeline

  • 1144 – DEMel's earliest primary record, in the charters of Oña.[15]
  • 1152 – a Nájera charter has maneira.[2][3]
  • 1202 – the Cortes de Benavente use en otra manera.[8]
  • 1209 – the form manera in a charter.[2]
  • 1250–1279 – the Lapidario uses it for “way” and “kind”.[9]
  • 1493 – first record from the Americas, in a text on the Indies: muchas maneras de aves.[16]
  • 1513 – Nebrija gives Latin modus.[17]
  • 1611 – Covarrubias gives the slit in a garment and “mode”.[11]
  • 1708 – first record of amanerado.[2][3]
  • 1734 – Autoridades records “pocket” and “fly”.[12]
  • 1817 – the Academy adds an artist's style.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The way or manner in which something is done or happens: No me gusta su manera de hablar.[4][18]
  2. (usually plural) A person's bearing and manners: Tiene unas maneras muy finas.[4][19]
  3. Skill, dexterity, knack.[4]
  4. The quality or class of people.[4]
  5. (painting) The style an artist gives to his or her works.[4][19]
  6. (obsolete) A side slit in a skirt to reach the pocket; the fly of trousers; a pocket; outward form; kind, sort.[4]
  7. (Cuba) A strip of cloth finishing the edges of an opening in a garment.[14]
  8. a manera de, a la manera de: like, in the manner of.[4][9]

Word family

  • amanerado
  • amanerar
  • amaneramiento
  • sobremanera

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 806
  3. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. manera
  4. ^ 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. manera
  5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 440
  6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 4131
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. manière
  8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. manera
  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. manera
  10. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1929), Vocabulario medieval castellano, Madrid: Librería y Casa Editorial Hernando, p. 287
  11. ^ 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. 1109
  12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 476
  13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 548
  14. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. manera
  15. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. manera
  16. ^ 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. manera
  17. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 376
  18. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. manera
  19. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. manera

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Manera.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/manera. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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