patata

Forms

patata f (plural patatas)^[1]

Etymology

It is a blend, from Spanish papa (“potato”) + batata (“sweet potato”), according to the Academy's dictionary, Corominas, Moliner and Bénaben.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} papa is from Quechua papa,^[3] and batata is a word of the Arawak of Hispaniola, batata.^[7][6] Wiktionary and Henríquez Ureña instead treat the word as a variant of the Taíno one, known from the 16th century.^[1][8]

The plant was little known in Spain until the 18th century and was called only by its Quechua name.^[3] Corominas ties the change of name to the spread of its cultivation, when that name was confused with the Taíno one; the earlier records of the blend still mean the sweet potato.^[3] Italian patata (18th century) and the English word potato (1597 in this sense) come from the same Spanish forms.^[3][9] Asturian pataca, Galician pataca and Catalan pataca are related forms.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hernán Cortés's Cartas de relación (1519–1526) already list patata with maize, chili and cassava among the foods of the natives, and Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo and other chroniclers use patatas for an American root.^[11] Hernán Núñez recorded the proverb Más valen dos bocados de vaca que siete de patata about 1549.^[11][8] Corominas and the BDELC date patata from 1606, in Aldrete, who uses it for the roots brought from the Indies, probably in the sense “sweet potato”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The Pragmática de tasas of 1680 and Quevedo use patatas for sweet potatoes, and the Diccionario de Autoridades still gives the word as the same as batata.^[12][3] The modern sense “potato” dates from the 18th century.^[4] The 1843 Academy dictionary describes the potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) and its tubers, with varieties such as the gallega and the manchega,^[13] and in 1884 it called the word voz americana.^[14]

In Spain patata is now the ordinary name of the potato, while Spanish America and the Canaries keep papa, which is also used colloquially in parts of Andalusia, Murcia and Extremadura.^[3][2] In Cuba it was felt as a Spanish word.^[15] Colloquially in Spain it means something worthless or that works badly,^[2] and patata caliente is a problem everyone wants to pass on.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1519–1526 – Hernán Cortés's Cartas de relación list patata among the foods of the natives.^[11]
• c. 1549 – Hernán Núñez's collection of proverbs has siete de patata.^[11][8]
• 1597 – the English word potato is recorded for the potato.^[3]
• 1606 – Aldrete's Origen, the DCECH's first record.^[3][4]
• 1680 – a Pragmática de tasas prices sweetened patatas.^[12]
• 1737 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives patata as the same as batata.^[12]
• 18th century – the sense “potato” spreads with the crop.^[4][3]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary describes the potato plant.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Spain) The potato plant, Solanum tuberosum.^[2][1]
2. (Spain) A potato, the tuber of this plant, eaten as food: Pela las patatas para la tortilla.^[2][1]
3. (colloquial, Spain) Something of poor quality or that works badly; rubbish.^[2][1]

Interjection

1. (Spain) Said when being photographed, like English “cheese”.^[1]

Word family

• patatal
• patatero

Related words

• papa
• batata
• pataca

Usage notes

Set phrases include patata caliente “hot potato” and patata de caña, the Jerusalem artichoke (pataca).^[2]

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 h 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. patata
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 382
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. papa
5. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. patata
6. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. patata
7. ^ Friederici, Georg (1947), Amerikanistisches Wörterbuch, Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter, p. 81
8. ^ a b c Henríquez Ureña, Pedro (2015), Obras completas, vol. 12: 1936–1940 III, ed. Miguel D. Mena, Santo Domingo: Ministerio de Cultura, p. 174
9. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. patata
10. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 4844
11. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. patata
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 161
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 540
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 799
15. ^ Ortiz, Fernando (1923), Un catauro de cubanismos: apuntes lexicográficos, La Habana, p. 139