novio

Forms

novio m (plural novios, feminine novia, feminine plural novias)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *novius (“newly married”), a derivative of novus (“new”).^[2][3][1][4] Latin records Novius only as a personal name, borne among others by a writer of Atellan farces.^[5][6] Corominas notes that at first it meant only a man newly married or about to be married, as Catalan and Occitan still use it.^[2]

The same word is Portuguese noivo, Catalan nuvi and Occitan novi.^[7][4][8] The Catalan word comes from an older and regional novi, which predominates in medieval texts from the end of the 13th century.^[8] The Latin adjective is from Proto-Indo-European *néwos.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEMel's earliest primary record is in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (1200–1250).^[10] Corominas dates the word to 1220–1250.^[2] In Alfonso X's prose novios are newly married people, and also a couple about to marry, as in the Partidas: si novios quisiessen fazer sus bodas “if a couple wished to hold their wedding”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The Diccionario de Autoridades defined the noun as a man just married or about to marry, and by extension one newly entered into a dignity or state.^[12] The Academy's 1869 edition put the man “trying to marry” first, and the 2001 edition has a partner in a love relationship with no intention of marriage.^[13][14] Today the first sense is “a person in a romantic relationship with another”, and novio or novia at a wedding is the groom or bride.^[3][15] In hunting a novio is a man who kills his first beast, and in Colombia and Venezuela the name is given to a garden plant with red flowers of the geranium family.^[3][16]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar has the form novio.^[10]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario speaks of nouios “newly married men”.^[11]
• 1575 – a record from Mexico, describing a wedding custom.^[17]
• 1591 – Percyvall translates it “a new married man”.^[18]
• 1734 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives the senses “just married or about to marry” and “newcomer to a dignity”.^[12]
• 1899 – the Academy records quedarse compuesta y sin novio “to be left all dressed up with no groom”, of a hope that fails.^[19]
• 1917 – Alemany records the Colombian plant name.^[20]

Meanings

Noun

1. boyfriend or girlfriend (feminine novia), especially with a view to marriage; a fiancé.^[3][1]
2. A bridegroom or bride; a person about to marry or newly married: Los novios salieron de la iglesia bajo una lluvia de arroz.^[3][1]
3. A person in a romantic relationship with another.^[3]
4. (figurative) A person who aspires to obtain something, such as a post.^[3]
5. A man newly entered into a dignity or state.^[3]
6. (hunting) A man who kills a beast for the first time.^[3]
7. (Colombia, Venezuela) A garden plant of the geranium family with red, pink or white flowers.^[3][16]

Word family

• amigovio
• noviazgo

Related words

• nuevo
• Portuguese noivo
• Catalan nuvi

Usage notes

The phrase quedarse compuesta y sin novio means to fail to get what one expected after making preparations or spending money on it.^[3][21] The feminine novia is the bride or girlfriend.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nuevo
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. novio
4. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5971
5. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. novio
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. novius
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 4627
8. ^ a b Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 5, 986
9. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. novio
10. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. novio
11. ^ a b 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. novio
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 685
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 541
14. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. novio
15. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. novio 1
16. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. novio
17. ^ 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. novio
18. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 179
19. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 698
20. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1204
21. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. novio