matrimonial

Forms

matrimonial m or f (masculine and feminine plural matrimoniales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mātrimōniālis (“of or belonging to marriage”), a post-classical adjective of mātrimōnium (“marriage”).^[2][1][3][4] Corominas lists it among the learned words of the family of madre, beside matrimonio, taken from the same Latin noun.^[5][6] The Latin noun is formed from māter (“mother”).^[1][7]

The same Latin word was borrowed as French matrimonial in the 14th century, Portuguese matrimonial in the 15th, and Catalan matrimonial and Italian matrimoniale.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is the Corbacho of 1438;^[11] DICCA-XV has the word from 1417.^[5][6][12] The CDH's earliest Castilian examples are in Enrique de Villena: in his Tratado de consolación (1424) husband and wife are fechos una carne en la federaçión matrimonial “made one flesh in the marriage union”.^[13] Earlier records, a document on the marriage of Peter IV of 1338 and Juan Fernández de Heredia's Rams de flors (1376–1396), are in Aragonese texts.^[11][13]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the Latin sense “of marriage”.^[2][14] Nebrija (c. 1495) glossed it with Latin matrimonialis, and Covarrubias (1611) gave the example pleito matrimonial “matrimonial lawsuit”.^[14][15] Autoridades (1734) added promesa matrimonial “promise of marriage”.^[16] In the Americas the phrase capítulos matrimoniales “marriage articles” is recorded from New Granada in 1539.^[17] The Academy first gave the Latin etymology in 1899.^[18]

Timeline

• 1338 – an Aragonese document on the marriage of Peter IV.^[11]
• 1424 – first Castilian record, in Enrique de Villena's Tratado de consolación.^[13]
• 1438 – the Corbacho, Corominas's first record.^[5][6]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija glosses it with Latin matrimonialis.^[14][12]
• 1539 – capítulos matrimoniales in New Granada.^[17]
• 1611 – Covarrubias gives the example pleito matrimonial.^[15]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from Latin matrimonialis.^[18]

Meanings

Adjective

1. matrimonial, of or relating to marriage (matrimonio): Tuvieron una larga crisis matrimonial.^[2][1][19]

Word family

• matrimonialmente

Related words

• matrimonio
• madre
• materno
• Latin mātrimōniālis

Usage notes

Set phrases include capitulaciones matrimoniales “marriage settlement”, agencia matrimonial “marriage agency” and cama matrimonial “double bed”.^[2][1] Moliner gives marital and matrimonesco as synonyms.^[19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. matrimonial
3. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 754
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. madre
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. matrimonial
9. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. matrimonial
10. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 276
11. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. matrimonial
12. ^ 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. matrimonial
13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. matrimonial
14. ^ a b c Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 378
15. ^ 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. 1123
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 515
17. ^ 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. matrimonial
18. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 643
19. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. matrimonial