perenne

Forms

perenne m or f (masculine and feminine plural perennes)^[1] Enrique de Villena also wrote perempne (1427–1428).^[2] García de Diego records a form perene “unceasing” beside the learned perenne;^[3][1] Wiktionary gives perene as an alternative form.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin perennis (“lasting the whole year, perpetual”), formed of per- (“through”) and annus (“year”), literally “lasting throughout the year”.^[4][1][5][6] Corominas lists it under año and dates it to the 17th century, from Autoridades, and VOX also calls it a 17th-century borrowing; the CDH has it from 1423.^[7][8][9][2]

In Latin the adjective is attested from Plautus and was used first of rivers and springs that do not dry up.^[10][5] The Latin word for “year” goes back to *atno- and *h₂et-no- (“which goes, a year”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Enrique de Villena's Arte cisoria (1423) has it in a religious sense: al beatífico e glorioso estado perenne vengaes “may you come to the blessed and glorious everlasting state”.^[2] In his Tratado de consolación (1424) God is the Rey perenne “everlasting King”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The Latin sense of a spring that never fails appears in Alfonso de la Torre's Visión deleitable (c. 1430–1440), with las perennes fuentes e ríos, and Alfonso de Palencia's Latin vocabulary of 1490 glossed perennis as eternal and said it was used of a river or spring that flows for ever.^[2] In the Americas it is recorded from 1683, again of a spring.^[11]

Autoridades defined it as continuous and incessant, and recorded loco perenne, a man never in his right mind and, by extension, one who is always joking.^[12] Domínguez (1846) added the sense of being constantly at someone's side.^[13] The botanical sense, of a plant that lives more than two years, appears in Alemany (1917) and is now the DLE's second sense;^[14] Moliner sets the limit at three years.^[14][4][15] In Leonese it can mean “in good condition, fresh”.^[16]

Timeline

• 1423 – Enrique de Villena uses it of the everlasting state of the blessed.^[2]
• c. 1430–1440 – Alfonso de la Torre writes of perennes fuentes.^[2]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia glosses Latin perennis as “eternal”.^[2]
• 1683 – first record in the Americas, in the New Kingdom of Granada.^[11]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades records loco perenne.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives its Latin source, perennis.^[17]
• 1917 – Alemany records the botanical sense.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Continuous, incessant, without interruption: Vivía en una perenne preocupación por el dinero.^[4][15][9]
2. Lasting for ever or for a very long time; perpetual: un recuerdo perenne.^[15][9]
3. (botany) Of a plant or a plant organ: living more than two years, perennial; of leaves, staying green all year, as in de hoja perenne “evergreen”.^{[4][9][1][18]}

Word family

• perennidad

Related words

• año
• anual
• bienio
• perpetuo
• Latin perennis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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, p. s.v. perenne
3. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. perennis
4. ^ 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. perenne
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. perenne
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 289
8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. año
9. ^ a b c d Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. perenne
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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. perenne
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 219
13. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1360
14. ^ a b c Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1296
15. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. perenne
16. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. perenne
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 815
18. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org