pensión

Forms

pensión f (plural pensiones)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin pēnsiō (“payment”),^[2][3][4][1] the noun of pendō (“to weigh out, pay”); the Latin noun first meant the weighing of goods given to someone.^[2][5][6] Gómez de Silva gives the Medieval Latin form as the source, and says that the sense “boarding house” came from French pension, first the payment for board and lodging.^[7]

The same Latin word was borrowed as Portuguese pensão, Catalan pensió and Italian pensione, and earlier into French.^[1][8][9] Corominas treats it under peso, with the other learned words of the family of pesar.^[3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas and the BDELC date the word only from the 17th century, from a quotation in Autoridades.^[3][2] The CDH has it much earlier: a charter of 1367 speaks of the money taken por causa de la dicha pension o beneficio, “on account of the said pension or benefice”, the income from a church living.^[11] DICCA-XV reports a first record of 1282 in the old CORDE corpus.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In the late 14th century the word was used for a tribute paid by a subject people and for the salaries the king granted; the Cortes of Briviesca of 1387 promised larger pensiones to those who administer justice.^[11] Nebrija gave it as the rent paid for something hired.^[12] Autoridades in 1737 defined it as an annual charge laid on a property, as an annual sum the king grants for some service, and, figuratively, as the trouble that comes with something one enjoys.^[13] The Academy kept these senses in 1899.^[14]

The modern senses are the retirement, widow's or disability pension, a grant for study, and a guesthouse and its price.^[4][1] In Chile, Colombia and Panama pensión also means sorrow, and in Mexico a car park paid by the month.^[4][15] In Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia it is the monthly fee of a private school.^[15]

In the Americas the word is recorded from 1535, in Mexico City.^[16]

Timeline

• 1367 – a charter on a house and a church uses pension for the income of a benefice.^[11]
• 1376–1396 – Juan Fernández de Heredia uses it for a tribute.^[11]
• 1387 – the Cortes of Briviesca speak of the judges' pensiones.^[11]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija's Vocabulario: the rent paid for something hired.^[12]
• 1535 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City.^[16]
• 1737 – Autoridades defines the charge on a property and the king's annual grant, with a 17th-century quotation from Palafox, Corominas's first record.^[13][3]
• 1899 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin pensio.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pension: a regular sum paid by the social security for retirement, widowhood, orphanhood or disability: Cobra la pensión de jubilación desde enero.^[4][1]
2. A grant given to further someone's studies in science, the arts or letters.^[4]
3. An annual rent or charge laid on a property, for a time or for ever.^[4]
4. A guesthouse, a boarding house: Pasaron la noche en una pensión del centro.^[4][1]
5. The price paid for board and lodging in such a house.^[4]
6. (Chile, Colombia, Panama) Sorrow, sadness (pena).^[4][15]
7. (Mexico) A car park paid for by the month.^[4][1]
8. (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia) The monthly fee of a private school.^[15]
9. (rare) The trouble or care that comes with having or enjoying something.^[4][14]

Word family

• pensionar
• pensionado
• pensionario
• pensionista

Related words

• pensar
• pesar
• peso
• Latin pēnsiō

Usage notes

Pensión completa is full board, and media pensión half board.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pensión
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 503
4. ^ 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. pensión
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. pensión
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. pensão
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. pensión
11. ^ 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, p. s.v. pensión
12. ^ a b c 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. pensión
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. pensión
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 762
15. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. pensión
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. pensión
17. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 560