modernidad

Forms

modernidad f (plural modernidades)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish moderno + -idad.^[1][2] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of moderno (1433), which is from Latin modernus.^[3] The Latin adjective is built on modo (“just now”) with the suffix -rnus, after hodiernus (“of today”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH has the word first in Ortega y Gasset's Personas, obras, cosas (1904–1916), in the phrase una modernidad descarnada “a bare modernity”, and in Emilia Pardo Bazán's novel La Quimera (1905), which speaks of la modernidad radiante “radiant modernity”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start it means both the quality of being modern and the modern age or modern ideas as a whole: in Fernando Ortiz (Cuba, 1906) it is the up-to-date chic of a fashionable practice, and in Franz Tamayo (Bolivia, 1910) the modern era, set against antiquity.^[4] The DLE and Moliner give only “the quality of being modern”;^[5][6][7] Vox adds the set of ideas and customs held to be modern or advanced, as in the debate between tradition and modernity.^[5][6][7] In Latin American political language of the 1980s and 1990s it is the goal of progress, and Rubén Darío was called the father of modernity in poetry.^[8]

Timeline

• 1433 – first record of moderno.^[3]
• 1905 – Pardo Bazán's La Quimera.^[4]
• 1906 – Fernando Ortiz, in Cuba.^[4]
• 1910 – Franz Tamayo, in Bolivia, uses it for the modern era.^[4]
• 1986 – in Bogotá, Rubén Darío is called “the true father of modernity”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of being modern (moderno), modernity.^[5][6][1]
2. The ideas, customs and ways of life regarded as modern or advanced; the modern age: los retos de la modernidad.^[7][1]

Related words

• moderno
• modernismo
• modernizar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. moderno
4. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. modernidad
5. ^ a b c 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. modernidad
6. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. modernidad
7. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. modernidad
8. ^ 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. modernidad