octubre

Forms

octubre m (plural octubres)^[1] Old Spanish texts write ochubre, otubre, othubre, octubre and octobre.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin Octōber (“October”), in a variant with /u/: Vulgar Latin Octuber is recorded in 119 AD.^[3][4][5] Wiktionary calls the modern form semi-learned, based on the inherited Old Spanish ochubre;^[1] García de Diego explains the modern form as the Riojan otubre with the ⟨c⟩ of octavo.^[1][6] The Spanish Wiktionary derives the ⟨u⟩ from the influence of Oscan ohtūfri, a form that Corominas also names.^[7][3]

The same Latin word is Portuguese outubro, Asturian ochobre, Aragonese otubre and Italian ottobre.^[8][1][6] The Latin name was that of the eighth month of the early Roman year, which began in March; the name is formed on octō (“eight”) after the model of September.^[3][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the first record to 1234.^[3] A sale document from León of 1242 is dated enno mes de ochubre “in the month of October”, and a deed of gift of 1249 en el mes de octubre.^[9] Alfonso X's Estoria de España (1270–1284) explains the name: the month was called ochubre because it was the eighth counting from March.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija about 1495 writes the word otubre.^[11][6] The Diccionario de Autoridades explains the name as the eighth month of the first Roman year and the tenth of the later one, and the Academy's 1884 edition adds the etymology from Latin october.^[12][13] Through Spanish the name passed into the languages of the Philippines, such as Tagalog Oktubre.^[1]

Timeline

• 1234 – first record.^[3]
• 1242 – the form ochubre in a sale document from León.^[9]
• 1249 – the form octubre in a deed of gift.^[9]
• 1270–1284 – the Estoria de España explains ochubre as the eighth month from March.^[10]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija writes otubre.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. October, the tenth month of the year, with 31 days: Las clases empiezan en octubre.^[4][1]

Related words

• ocho
• octavo
• Latin Octōber

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. octubre
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ocho
4. ^ a b 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. octubre
5. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. octubre
6. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. october
7. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
8. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2426
9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. octubre
10. ^ 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. octubre
11. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. octubre
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 17
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. 753