paz

Forms

paz f (plural paces)^[1] Old Spanish texts also write paç and pas; the plural is pazes or paces.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pāx (“peace; a settlement”), with the same form in Old Spanish, paz.^[4][5][6][1] The DCECH notes that the word has been in general use at every period.^[4]

The same word is Portuguese paz, Galician paz, Catalan pau, Occitan patz, French paix, Italian pace and Romanian pace;^[7][1] Basque bake was borrowed from it.^[7][1]

The Latin noun belongs with paciscor (“to make an agreement”) and pactum (“agreement”), the source of the learned pacto; it goes back to Proto-Italic *pāk- (“agreement, peace”) and Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“agreement”), a root that Wiktionary glosses “to join, to attach”.^[8][1][4] De Vaan compares Umbrian forms and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (fāhan, “to catch”).^[8]

According to Corominas, most of the Spanish derivatives are learned: pacato, pacífico, pacificar.^[4][5] The popular apaciguar comes from the Latin verb for “to pacify”, and its old form apazguado, crossed with the learned adjective, gave pazguato “simpleton”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) the Cid says „Moros en paz, ca escripta es la carta” “Moors at peace, for the letter is written”.^[3][4] The poem opposes paz to guerra, calls a Moor who has promised vassalage amigo de paz, and uses dar paz for the kiss of peace given at mass.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose has public peace and order, good relations between people (especially in families), a peaceful character, and in the plural pazes a treaty between rulers.^[10] Nebrija gave Latin pax, pacis as its equivalent.^[11] Covarrubias in 1611 recorded la paz de Judas (a treacherous peace), hazer pazes, poner paz and tomar paz en la yglesia.^[12]

Autoridades put first the virtue that brings calm to the soul, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, then public peace opposed to war, then harmony within families.^[13] The DLE now begins with the absence of armed conflict, and adds the portapaz (the plate offered for the kiss of peace) and the sign of peace exchanged at mass.^[6] In the Americas the chronicles speak of Indians coming out de paz or de guerra.^[14] In Panama and Colombia a paz y salvo is a certificate that one owes no money.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has Moros en paz.^[3][4]
• 1208 – the Cortes of León speak of the paz de la eglesia.^[3]
• c. 1215 – the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca has the plural pazes opposed to wars.^[3]
• 1220–1250 – first record of pacífico.^[5]
• 1490 – first record of pacificar.^[5]
• 1521 – the first record from the Americas, in Cuba.^[14]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records la paz de Judas and hazer pazes.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy calls peace one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. peace: the absence of armed conflict in or between countries.^[6][1]
2. harmony between people, without quarrels or conflict.^[6][1]
3. (also in the plural) A peace treaty ending a war.^[6]
4. Quiet, absence of noise or bustle in a place.^[6]
5. tranquillity, the state of someone not troubled by any worry: Por fin encontró la paz en el campo.^[6][1]
6. (religion) The portapaz.^[6]
7. (Christianity) The inner harmony that the faithful receive from God.^[6]
8. (Christianity) The sign of peace that the faithful exchange at mass.^[6]

Word family

• portapaz

Related words

• apaciguar
• pacificador
• pacífico
• pacifismo
• pacifista
• pagar
• pacificar
• pacto
• pazguato
• Latin pāx

Usage notes

Hacer las paces means “to make peace, make up”, and dejar en paz “to leave alone”.^[1][12] A la paz de Dios is a colloquial greeting or farewell.^[6] Paz is also a female given name, short for María de la Paz.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. paz
3. ^ 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
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, 444
5. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. paz
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. paz
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. paz
10. ^ 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. paz
11. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 394
12. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1, 1200
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 172
14. ^ 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. paz
15. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. paz
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 802