notoriedad

Forms

notoriedad f (plural notoriedades)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish notorio + -edad.^[1][2][3] The Autoridades gives Medieval Latin notorietas (“public knowledge”) as its Latin equivalent, a word recorded by Du Cange, and Wikcionario takes the Spanish word from it.^[4][5][6]

The adjective notorio (1438) is from Late Latin nōtōrius, from nōtus (“known”), the past participle of nōscō (“to come to know”).^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a letter of King John II from 1453, in which he has inquired into the truth de la notoriedad dello “of the public knowledge of it”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the word belonged to legal language, for the public knowledge of a fact that makes proof unnecessary: a document of 1497 records a witness who testifies por tal notoriedad “on the strength of such common knowledge”.^[7] The Autoridades of 1734 defined it as public knowledge of things, and distinguished in law notoriedad de derecho, knowledge that follows from a court's sentence, from notoriedad de hecho, knowledge from the crime or event itself.^[4] The Autoridades also quotes Zúñiga's Anales for families that stood out in lustre, esplendor y notoriedad, where the word already comes close to “fame”.^[4]

The current dictionary gives two senses: the quality of being notorious, that is widely known, and fame or renown.^[8][9] Moliner adds the fact of a person being very well known.^[10]

Timeline

• 1453 – first record, in a letter of John II.^[7]
• 1480–1484 – Pulgar's Crónica de los Reyes Católicos speaks of the gran notoriedad of Henry IV's impotence (in an early 16th-century copy).^[7]
• 1529 – first record from the Americas, in Nicaragua.^[11]
• 1734 – the Autoridades defines it and the legal phrases notoriedad de derecho and notoriedad de hecho.^[4]
• 1884 – the Academy derives it from notorio.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of being notorious (notorio), well known or evident to all: la notoriedad de los hechos.^[8][10]
2. fame, renown (nombradía): Ganó notoriedad con su primera película.^[8][1][12]

Related words

• noticia
• conocer
• Medieval Latin notorietas

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 743
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. noticia
4. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 682
5. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre, p. s.v. notorietas
6. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. notoriedad
7. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. notoriedad
8. ^ 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. notoriedad
9. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. notoriedad
10. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. notoriedad
11. ^ 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. notoriedad
12. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. notoriedad