opinión

Forms

opinión f (plural opiniones)^[1] The Calila e Dimna (1251, in a later copy) writes opiñón, and Old Spanish also has openion.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin opīniō (“opinion, belief; reputation”).^[4][5][6][1] The Latin noun is formed from opīnor (“to think, suppose, conjecture”) with the suffix -iō.^[7][1] De Vaan rejects or doubts the proposed sources of the verb, among them a link with optō (“to choose”), since the step from “choose” to “believe” is weak.^[8]

The same Latin word is Portuguese opinião, Catalan opinió, French opinion and Italian opinione.^[1][9] Nascentes calls the Portuguese word semi-learned.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in the CDH is in the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250), where a widow is to live on the goods moderately segund opinion de buenos omnes “according to the judgement of good men”.^[2] Corominas dates it about 1250, in Alfonso X's Setenario, which has a law on what an opinión is.^[4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's astrological works use the word for each of the views held by the authorities: the Judizios de las estrellas count cinco oppiniones.^[2][11] Alonso de Palencia uses it often, and Nebrija records it as Castilian.^[4] It was frequent in the Golden Age, when it also meant “fame, reputation” and, in Calderón, “honour”, perhaps first as a euphemism: in El alcalde de Zalamea Pedro Crespo asks Restaurad una opinión que habéis quitado “restore the honour you have taken away”.^[4][12] Medieval Latin opinio already meant “repute, fame”.^[13]

The Diccionario de Autoridades (1737) defined it as a judgement formed about something where there are reasons for the contrary, and as the fame or concept in which someone is held, with the phrases andar en opiniones and hacer opinión.^[14] The noun is far more popular than the verb opinar, which Covarrubias left out; many country people say la piñón.^[4] The phrase opinión pública is now its own sense.^[6]

Timeline

• 1218–1250 – the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes has segund opinion de buenos omnes.^[2]
• c. 1250 – Alfonso X's Setenario defines the word.^[4][5]
• 1251 – the Calila e Dimna has the form opiñón.^[2]
• 1495 – Nebrija records opinión with Latin opinio, and the verb opinar is first recorded.^[15][5]
• 1519 – first record in the Americas, from Puerto Rico.^[16]
• 1737 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records andar en opiniones and hacer opinión.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. An opinion, a judgement or assessment that someone forms about something or someone: Me gustaría saber tu opinión sobre el libro.^[6][1]
2. reputation; the esteem in which someone or something is held: Tiene muy buena opinión entre sus vecinos.^[6][17]
3. (in the plural) Political views.^[17]
4. opinión pública: public opinion, the view shared by most people on given matters.^[6]

Related words

• opinar
• opinable
• inopinado
• Latin opīniō
• Portuguese opinião

Usage notes

Andar alguien en opiniones means that someone's good name is in doubt.^[6][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. opinión
3. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. opinión
4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 287
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. opinión
6. ^ a b c d e f 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. opinión
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ 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, 80
10. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. opinião
11. ^ 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. opinión
12. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. opinión
13. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. opinio
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5
15. ^ 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. opinión
16. ^ 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. opinión
17. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. opinión