otorgar

Forms

otorgar (first-person singular present otorgo, first-person singular preterite otorgué, past participle otorgado)^[1] The oldest record is Leonese outorigare (1034); the Cantar de mio Cid has both atorgar and otorgar, and Old Aragonese has aitorgar.^[2] Old Castilian also had otrogar, and atorgar lived on in Aragonese, Judeo-Spanish and popular Castilian.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish otorgar, inherited from Vulgar Latin *auctoricāre (“to authorise”).^[2][4][5] The Vulgar Latin verb was formed from auctor in its legal sense “guarantor, seller”.^[4][5] Wiktionary notes that it is attested in early Medieval Latin as auctōricāre.^[1] García de Diego and Moliner connect it with auctōrāre, a verb of the same family.^[3][6]

The same Latin verb gave Portuguese outorgar, Sardinian otorogare, Catalan atorgar and Occitan atorgar.^[7][2] With a different suffix it gave Old French otreier, French octroyer and Catalan autrejar.^[7] García de Diego lists Basque ordagatu in the same article.^[3]

The Latin noun behind it meant “seller, person with authority” and comes from augeō (“to increase”).^[8][1] Its learned descendant is autor.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is the Leonese form outorigare in a charter of 1034, in Oelschläger's list.^[2][4] The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) uses it for granting a request: Otorgado gelo avié el abbat de grado “The abbot had gladly granted it to him”.^[9] In the poem it also means a judge's assent, agreement to a task, the warranting of a contract and the admission of what another says.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija rendered it in 1495 with Latin concedo “to grant” and annuo “to nod assent”, and listed cabecear otorgando “to nod in agreement”.^[11][12] Covarrubias in 1611 defined it as granting what is asked or admitting what is asked about, and called the otorgados those who had given each other their word of marriage; he found its origin unclear.^[13] The Diccionario de Autoridades preferred Du Cange's view, that Spanish took it from a Low Latin otorgare that also gave the French verb.^[14]

Autoridades also recorded the legal sense, to offer, stipulate or promise something with public authority, as when a deed is executed, and the proverb quien calla otorga “silence gives consent”.^[14] The Academy's 1884 edition gave its etymology from a Low Latin autoricare.^[15] In the Americas it is recorded from 1529, in Mexico City.^[16] Today it is used above all for granting favours, prizes and pardons, and for executing deeds and wills before a notary.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 1034 – the Leonese form outorigare appears in a charter.^[2][4]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has otorgar and atorgar.^[2][9]
• 1208 – the first CDH record in a text without a later copy.^[9]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for consenting.^[17]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin concedo.^[12]
• 1529 – the first record in the Americas, in Mexico City.^[16]
• 1611 – Covarrubias finds its origin unclear.^[13]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the legal sense and quien calla otorga.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives an etymology.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. To consent to or grant something that is asked: El juez otorgó el aplazamiento que pedía la defensa.^[5][1]
2. To bestow something as a favour, honour or award: Le otorgaron la medalla de oro.^[5][1][6]
3. (law) To establish, stipulate or promise something, especially to execute a deed or will before a notario.^[5][1][6]

Word family

• otorgamiento
• otorgante

Related words

• autor
• Portuguese outorgar
• French octroyer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 416
3. ^ a b c d García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 789
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. otorgar
5. ^ 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. otorgar
6. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. otorgar
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 775
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. ^ 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. otorgar
10. ^ Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. 373
11. ^ 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. otorgar
12. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 391
13. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1181
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, 65
15. ^ 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. 769
16. ^ 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. otorgar
17. ^ 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. otorgar