nadador

Forms

nadador m (plural nadadores, feminine nadadora, feminine plural nadadoras)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish nadar + -dor: Corominas lists it among the derivatives of the verb, and Wikcionario explains it the same way.^[2][3] Wiktionary, García de Diego and the Academy's dictionaries of 1884 and 1899 derive it instead from Latin natātor (“swimmer”).^[1][4][5][6] Nascentes argues for Portuguese nadador, too, that the word was made from the verb and the suffix, not taken from the Latin noun.^[7] The same form is used in Galician, Galician nadador.^[4]

The verb nadar is from Latin natō (“to swim”).^[2][8] The Latin noun was formed from that verb with the agent suffix -tor, and the verb itself from nō (“to swim”) with the suffix -tō.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Judizios de las estrellas made for Alfonso X in 1254, in a list of the trades of a man born when Saturn is in Aquarius: o es marinero. o pescador o cortidor de pannos enel agua. o nadador “he is a sailor, or a fisherman, or a fuller of cloth in the water, or a swimmer”.^[10][11] There it already means a person who swims, or who is skilled at it.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija gave the word with the Latin equivalent natator about 1495, and Corominas dates it from his dictionary.^[12][2] The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as one who swims, and above all one who is good at it, and quoted the proverb El mejor nadador es del agua “the best swimmer belongs to the water”, said of those who trust their skill and so keep running into danger until it kills them.^[13] The Academy later lengthened the proverb with o se ahoga “or drowns”.^[14]

The adjective sense “that swims”, used of animals, entered the dictionaries in the 19th century: Domínguez gave it as a zoological epithet, and the Academy's 1884 edition put the adjective first.^[15][5] In Chile the word also named a float fixed to fishing nets.^[16][17] The current dictionary adds the athlete who practises swimming as a sport.^[18][19]

Timeline

• 1254 – the Judizios de las estrellas lists the nadador among the trades connected with water.^[10][11]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija records nadador with Latin natator.^[12][2]
• 1571 – the word is recorded in Mexico City.^[20]
• 1734 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it and gives the proverb El mejor nadador es del agua.^[13]
• 1846 – Domínguez records the adjective used of animals that live in water.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary first gives an etymology, from Latin natator.^[5]
• 1917 – Alemany records the Chilean sense “float of a fishing net”.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That swims (nadar); also used as a noun: Los patos y los cisnes son aves nadadoras.^[18][21]

Noun

1. A swimmer: a person skilled at swimming, or one who practises swimming as a sport: El nadador ganó dos carreras en el campeonato.^[18][19][1]
2. (Chile, dated) A float fixed to a fishing net.^[16][17]

Related words

• natación
• natatorio
• Latin natātor
• Portuguese nadador

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nadar
3. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. nadador
4. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 4557
5. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 731
6. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 686
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. nadador
8. ^ 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. nadar
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ 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. nadador
11. ^ a b 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
12. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 385
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 644
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 531
15. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1240
16. ^ a b c Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1181
17. ^ a b Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 321
18. ^ 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. nadador
19. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nadador
20. ^ 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. nadador
21. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. nadador