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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word onda

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1215 Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca, in a 14th-century copy More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin unda via Old Spanish
Ultimate origin
Latin unda
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin unda
Spanish onda
From the same root
Latin undō ← unda

Pronunciation

  • /ˈonda/, [ˈõn̪.d̪a][1]

Forms

onda f (plural ondas)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish onda, inherited from Latin unda (“wave, billow; running water”).[2][3][1] The same Latin word is Portuguese onda, Galician onda, Asturian onda, Catalan ona, Occitan onda, French onde, Italian onda and Romanian undă.[4][5][1] The Catalan form is recorded from 1330; the literary language long preferred onda, a learned form.[6]

The Latin noun belongs with the Indo-European word for water: de Vaan derives it from the oblique stem of Proto-Indo-European *ud-ōr (“water”), with the nasal brought forward, and compares Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) and Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 (watō).[7] Wiktionary calls the details uncertain and suggests a collective noun reanalysed as a feminine singular.[1] From the Latin word come the learned verbs abundar, inundar and redundar.[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (c. 1215, in a 14th-century copy) speaks of las grandes ondas, tan pavorosas e tan fondas “the great waves, so fearful and so deep”.[9][10] The Semejanza del mundo (c. 1223), the first record without a later copy, compares the map of the world to the ondas that form on the sea when it moves.[9] The BDELC dates the word 1220–1250.[2]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X used it for the waves that throw stones onto the shore, and for great masses of water clashing with one another.[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1737) added two transferred senses: the shimmering of strong light, and the curls or folds of hair and cloth, as in el pelo en ondas.[12] The Academy's 1843 edition listed the plural for a scalloped trimming on dresses.[13] Alemany (1917) gave the electric or Hertzian wave of physics, the basis of onda corta and the other radio terms.[14][3]

Salvá (1846) recorded a Mexican sense, a seat of agave cord in which miners were lowered into the shafts.[15][16] In 20th-century Latin America the word took colloquial senses: a person's style or taste, the charm of a place, and an attitude or mood, as in buena onda and mala onda.[17][1] ¿Qué onda? “what's up?” is a common greeting.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1215 – the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (14th-century copy).[9]
  • c. 1223 – the Semejanza del mundo, the first record without a later copy.[9]
  • 1236–1246 – Berceo writes of Saint Peter saved en las ondas iradas.[9][18]
  • 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario.[11]
  • c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin unda and fluctus.[19]
  • 1737 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the senses of light and of curls.[12]
  • 1846 – Salvá records the Mexican miners' seat.[15]
  • 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology and the sense of curves in hair and cloth.[20]
  • 1917 – Alemany records the electric or Hertzian wave.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A wave or ripple: each of the rises formed when the surface of a liquid is disturbed: La piedra hizo ondas en el estanque.[3][1]
  2. Each of the S-shaped curves formed in something flexible, such as hair or cloth; usually in the plural.[3]
  3. Each of the semicircular cuts that decorate the edge of a garment; a scallop.[3]
  4. (physics) A periodic disturbance made of oscillations that travel through a medium: ondas sonoras.[3][1]
  5. (literary) A wave of the sea (ola).[3]
  6. (colloquial, Latin America) A person's style or taste; the charm of a place.[17][1]
  7. (colloquial, Latin America) An attitude or mood; a vibe: buena onda, mala onda.[17][1]
  8. (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua) An obsessive idea.[3][17]

Word family

  • ondear
  • ondeado
  • ondeante
  • ondeo
  • ondoso
  • microonda
  • undante
  • undísono
  • undoso
  • undulación
  • undular
  • undulatorio
  • ondular
  • ondulación
  • abundar
  • inundar
  • redundar
  • Latin unda

Usage notes

Physics has many set phrases, among them onda corta, for waves 10 to 50 metres long, and onda de choque “shock wave”.[3] The everyday word for a wave of the sea is ola, which the BDELC traces to a different source, probably Arabic.[21][3] Terreros (1786–1793) also listed onda for the sling, the word now written honda.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. onda
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. onda
  4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. onda
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9059
  6. ^ 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. 6, 71
  7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. onda
  9. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. onda
  10. ^ Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. onda
  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. onda
  12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 39
  13. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 512
  14. ^ a b Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1222
  15. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 771
  16. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 354
  17. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. onda
  18. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 537
  19. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 389
  20. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 760
  21. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ola
  22. ^ 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, 708

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Onda.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/onda. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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