perlesía

Forms

perlesía f^[1] Alfonsine prose has the form perlaxia.^[2] Parlesía occurs from 1376, and Nebrija's Latin dictionary of 1492 has parlasia.^[3][4] Texts from Mexico spell it perlesía from 1547, and Boyd-Bowman also files the spellings pellesía and perlasía.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin paralysis (“paralysis”), taken in a popular shape beside the learned parálisis: Autoridades and DICCA-XV derive it from the Latin and Greek word, and Corominas cites it from Nebrija among the forms of that word.^[6][4][7] The DLE and Moliner derive it from the Spanish medical word itself.^[1][8]

The Latin word is from Ancient Greek παράλυσις (parálusis, “loosening; paralysis”), from παραλύω (paralúō, “to untie, loosen”).^[9][7][4] The adjective perlático “palsied” is the corresponding popular form of paralítico, recorded from the Partidas of Alfonso X (1256–1265).^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moamín's Libro de los animales de caza, of about 1250, lists among the illnesses torcemiento dela boca quel dizen perlaxia “a twisting of the mouth that they call perlaxia”.^[2][3] In the form perlesía the CDH's first record is the Gran crónica de Alfonso XI (c. 1348–1379, in a copy of about 1500), which says that a princess was doliente de perlesia “suffering from palsy”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Fifteenth-century medicine used the word for paralysis and the slackening of the nerves: Alfonso Chirino (before 1429) gives remedies para perlesia & todo afloxamiento de nerujos.^[12] Nebrija's Spanish–Latin vocabulary (c. 1495) rendered it with Latin paralysis, and a perlesia de ojos with mydriasis;^[13] Percyvall (1591) translated it “the palsie”.^[4][13] In Mexico it is recorded from 1547, of an old and sick man.^[5]

From Autoridades to 1869 the Academy defined it as a relaxation of the nerves that takes away their strength, movement and feeling.^[6][14][15] The 1884 edition made it a synonym of parálisis and added a second sense, the weakness of the muscles with trembling that comes with old age, which the DLE keeps.^[16][1]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – Moamín's book on hunting animals has perlaxia for a twisting of the mouth.^[2]
• c. 1348–1379 – the Gran crónica de Alfonso XI (in a later copy) has perlesia.^[12]
• 1376 – the spelling parlesía appears.^[3]
• 1402 – Pero López de Ayala names perlesía among the ills of the body.^[12]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin paralysis as its equivalent.^[4]
• 1547 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico.^[5]
• 1591 – Percyvall translates it as “the palsie”.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the sense of trembling weakness of old age.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. Paralysis, palsy: loss or reduction of movement in parts of the body: Desde el accidente sufría una perlesía en el brazo.^[1][8]
2. Weakness of the muscles, with trembling, caused by old age or other causes.^[1][8][17]

Related words

• parálisis
• perlático
• paralítico
• Latin paralysis

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. perlesía
2. ^ a b c 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. perlesía
3. ^ a b c Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
4. ^ a b c d e 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. perlesía
5. ^ a b c 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. perlesía
6. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. perlesía
7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 250
8. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. perlesía
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. parálisis
10. ^ 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. perlático
11. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. perlatico
12. ^ 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. perlesía
13. ^ a b c Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 188
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 663
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 595
16. ^ 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. 817
17. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. perlesía