obvio

Forms

obvio (feminine obvia, masculine plural obvios, feminine plural obvias)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin obvius (“that is in the way, meeting”), a learned word.^[2][3][1] The Latin adjective is formed from ob- (“facing, against”) and via (“road, way”).^[4][1] Gómez de Silva derives it from the adverb obviam (“in the way, to meet”).^[5]

Corominas lists it in the article on vía, beside obviar (mid-16th century), the learned doublet of Old Spanish uviar (“to arrive”) (1102); both verbs continue obviāre (“to go to meet”).^[2][6] The same Latin adjective is Italian ovvio.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word to the end of the 17th century, from the quotation in the Diccionario de Autoridades (1737), which defines it as something met with or placed before the eyes.^[2][6][8] The quotation, from a life of Father Suárez, speaks of las materias más óbvias “the most ordinary subjects” made accessible to simple minds.^[8] Segura Munguía gives the end of the 16th century instead.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word meant “in the way, meeting”, and figuratively “at hand, easy to reach”, hence “easy to grasp, evident”.^[10][4] Terreros (1786–1793) still glossed it “easy to find or to know, met with by chance”.^[11] The Academy's dictionary of 1843 added the figurative sense “very clear, without difficulty”, which is the main sense today.^[12][3] Its 1884 edition was the first to give the Latin etymology.^[13]

In the Americas the word is recorded from 1789, in Buenos Aires, and in documents from Mexico of 1809–1810 in the phrase en obvio de “to avoid”.^[14] In Chilean youth slang it is said of a person who always does what others want.^[15]

Timeline

• late 17th century – the quotation in the Diccionario de Autoridades, Corominas's first record.^[2][8]
• 1737 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as “placed before the eyes”.^[8]
• 1789 – the first record in the Americas, from Buenos Aires.^[14]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary adds the figurative sense “very clear”.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin etymology.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That is in front of one's eyes, in plain view.^[3]
2. obvious, very clear, presenting no difficulty: Su intención resultaba obvia desde el principio.^[3][1]
3. (Chile, youth slang) Of a person, who always does what others want.^[15]

Word family

• obviamente

Related words

• obviar
• vía
• Latin obvius

Usage notes

Moliner records the spelling ovio beside obvio.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. 5, 197
3. ^ a b c d 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. obvio
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. obvius
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 501
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vía
7. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 545
8. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 12
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 511
10. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. obvio
11. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 690
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 506
13. ^ 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. 752
14. ^ 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. obvio
15. ^ 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. obvio, via
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. obvio