matrimonio

Forms

matrimonio m (plural matrimonios)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin mātrimōnium (“wedlock, marriage”).^[2][3][4][1] Corominas records a popular form matrimoño beside it.^[2] The same Latin word is Portuguese matrimónio, Galician matrimonio, Catalan matrimoni, French matrimoine and Italian matrimonio.^[1][5]

The Latin noun is formed from māter (“mother”) with the suffix -mōnium, like patrimōnium.^[6][1][7] Gómez de Silva explains it as the state of a wife who may lawfully become a mother, and notes that the Latin word was normally said of women.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first hit is the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250): siel esposa muriere ante delas bodas o el matrimonio “if the bride dies before the wedding or the marriage”.^[9] DEMel cites the Fuero de Plasencia of 1221.^[10] Corominas dated the word only from Juan Ruiz (1335).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Covarrubias in 1611 gives the theologians' definitions and derives the word from madre, because raising children falls to the mother.^[11] Autoridades defines it as a contract of natural law, made a sacrament between the baptised.^[12] By 1899 the Academy also recorded the colloquial sense “husband and wife”, a married couple.^[13] The current DLE adds the union of two persons of the same sex where the law allows it.^[4]

In several South American countries and in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic matrimonio is also the wedding party.^[14][4] In Puerto Rico it names a dish of white rice and stewed beans, and in Colombia a dessert.^[15][14]

Timeline

• 1218–1250 – first record, in the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes.^[9]
• 1221 – the Fuero de Plasencia uses the word.^[10]
• 1254 – Alfonso X's astrological prose uses it.^[16][17]
• 1335 – Juan Ruiz, Corominas's first record.^[3][2]
• 1438 – the adjective matrimonial appears.^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin matrimonium.^[18]
• 1537 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City.^[19]
• 1611 – Covarrubias derives it from madre.^[11]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary records matrimonio “husband and wife”.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. marriage: the union of a man and a woman by rites or legal formalities, to share a life and interests.^[4][1]
2. In some legal systems, the same union between two persons of the same sex.^[4]
3. A married couple: En el segundo piso vive un matrimonio joven.^[4][1]
4. (Catholicism) The sacrament of matrimony.^[4][20]
5. (Latin America) The wedding feast or party.^[4][14]
6. (Puerto Rico) A dish of white rice and stewed beans.^[21][15]

Word family

• matrimoniar

Related words

• matrimonial
• madre
• patrimonio
• Latin matrimonium

Usage notes

Contraer matrimonio is “to marry”, and the DLE lists kinds such as matrimonio civil and matrimonio clandestino.^[4][20][1] Román in Chile objected to matrimonio for the wedding ceremony, for which he preferred casamiento or boda.^[22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 754
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. madre
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. matrimonio
5. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. matrimoni
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. matrimonio
9. ^ 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. matrimonio
10. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. matrimonio
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. 1123
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 515
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 643
14. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. matrimonio
15. ^ a b Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. matrimonio
16. ^ 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. matrimonio
17. ^ Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
18. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 378
19. ^ 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. matrimonio
20. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. matrimonio
21. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. matrimonio
22. ^ Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 459