orina

Forms

orina f (plural orinas)^[1] The Latin-looking urina was also used: Alfonso X's General estoria has it, Alfonso de Palencia (1490) used both forms, and Nebrija and Covarrubias admitted both.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ūrīna (“urine”).^[3][5][6] Its initial ⟨o⟩ is shared by Catalan orina, Italian orina, Old French orine and Occitan orina, while Portuguese ourina has a diphthong.^[3][7] Wiktionary derives these forms from a Vulgar Latin *aurīna, altered under the influence of aurum (“gold”) for the colour, and perhaps by a false division after the article; this was proposed by Tallgren and Brüch.^[1][3][8] Corominas thinks it very uncertain, since medieval Occitan mostly had the form without a diphthong and the diphthong of Occitan and Portuguese can be secondary, and suggests that in Castilian the ⟨o⟩ may be a hypercorrection of the tendency that turned podrir into pudrir.^[3] He also notes that the Portuguese forms are learned, because they keep the /n/.^[3]

The Latin word is traditionally derived from Ancient Greek οὖρον (oûron, “urine”), but Corominas, following Ernout and Meillet, holds it to be a native Latin word.^[3] De Vaan reconstructs *ūr-īno- (“watery”), from Proto-Indo-European *woh₁-r̥ (“water”), with Old Norse úr (“drizzle”) among its cognates; the sense “urine” may have come from the influence of the Greek word.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest reliable record is Abraham of Toledo's Moamín (1250, in a manuscript of the later 13th century), which recommends un pedaçuelo de carne remojado en orina “a small piece of meat soaked in urine” for hawks.^[2] The Libro de Alexandre (1240–1250, in a 15th-century copy) and Alfonso X's Lapidario also have it;^[2] Corominas's first record was Alfonso de Palencia's dictionary of 1490.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word has always meant urine; according to Corominas it was the careful word, while the popular one was meados.^[3] Medieval astrology and medicine spoke of retenimiento de orina “retention of urine”, and Cervantes of a mal de orina “urinary complaint”.^[2][10] Autoridades (1737) still explained urine through the humours, as the watery part of the blood strained through the kidneys, coloured yellow by a little choler.^[11] The Academy replaced this in 1869 with the definition of a yellowish waste liquid made in the kidneys and passed through the urethra, which the DLE keeps.^[12][6]

Timeline

• 1240–1250 – the Libro de Alexandre has orinas (in a 15th-century copy).^[2][13]
• 1250 – the Moamín and the Lapidario use orina.^[2][14]
• c. 1275 – Alfonso X's General estoria has the form urina.^[2]
• c. 1400 – the derivative orinal “chamber pot” is first recorded.^[3][5]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia uses orina and urina;^[15] Corominas's first record.^[3][5]
• 1523 – first record in the Americas, in Cuba.^[15]
• c. 1580 – the verb orinar appears in Fray Luis de Granada.^[3][5]
• 1737 – Autoridades gives a humoral definition.^[11]
• 1869 – the Academy's modern definition.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. urine: the usually yellowish waste liquid secreted by the kidneys, stored in the bladder and passed out through the urethra: El médico pidió una muestra de orina.^[6][1]

Word family

• orinar
• orinal

Related words

• urinario
• Latin ūrīna
• Catalan orina

Usage notes

Incontinencia de orina “incontinence” and mal de orina “urinary disease” are set phrases.^[6] The verb orinar was a refined word beside the popular mear.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 299
4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
5. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. orina
6. ^ 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. orina
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 811
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 57
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 557
13. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. orina
14. ^ 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. orina
15. ^ 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. orina