pero

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish pero, inherited from Late Latin per hoc (“for this reason, therefore”), a phrase of per (“through, by means of”) and hoc (“this”), a neuter form of the demonstrative pronoun.^[1][2][3][4] The DLE glosses the Latin phrase “for this”, and Bénaben “for that reason, consequently”.^[3][5]

The phrase was already becoming fixed in the Latin of the Empire: Suetonius uses it for “for this reason”, and Quintilian joins it to quod as a conjunction.^[6] Coromines, summing up José Vallejo, notes that in the Latin of Spain it appears in nearly every writer from the 6th to the 9th century, always with the consecutive sense “therefore”.^[6]

The same phrase gave Italian però, Catalan però and the archaic Portuguese pero “but, however”.^[1][7][6][8] The Italian word kept its old causal sense in Florentine, and Nocentini notes that the Spanish word also moved its stress to the first syllable.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit for the conjunction is in the Liber Regum (c. 1194–1211, in a copy of the first quarter of the 13th century): Pero antes que esto fuesse, les uino muitos males “but before this happened, many evils came upon them”.^[9] Its first hit of all, in the Cantar de mio Cid, is the personal name Pero, not the conjunction.^[9] Corominas, as reported by Segura Munguía, dates the conjunction 1220–1250.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adversative sense grew out of negative sentences: “not for this do I believe” came to mean “yet I do not believe”, the same history as that of French pourtant.^[6][5] In Old Spanish pero still had the strong sense “nevertheless, all the same”, until the 14th century according to Vox and the 15th according to Segura Munguía; it then weakened to a plain “but”.^[10][4] In that role it displaced mas, the chief adversative conjunction until the 15th century.^[11] Coromines describes the same weakening for Catalan però.^[6]

Pero que meant “although” in the 13th century: the Razón de amor has Pero que no me conoçia “although she did not know me”, and Alfonso X's Picatrix (1256) uses it the same way.^[9][12]

The Diccionario de Autoridades records the conjunction and also its use as a noun for a flaw, as in Fulano no tiene pero “so-and-so has no fault”.^[13][14] The DLE now labels the noun “defect, objection” colloquial, and poner peros “to find fault” is recorded in Andalusia.^[3][15] At the start of a sentence pero gives emphasis without contrasting with anything;^[16] Román notes that colloquial Chilean Spanish also uses it inside the clause.^[3][16] Borao recorded in Aragon its use as an intensifier, es fácil, pero muy fácil, the use the DLE records in pero que muy.^[17][3]

The word passed into Tagalog pero and into Chavacano and Rapa Nui.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1194–1211 – the Liber Regum has the conjunction (in a copy of the early 13th century).^[9]
• c. 1205–1250 – the Razón de amor uses pero que “although”.^[9]
• 1220–1250 – Corominas's date for the conjunction.^[4]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it to set one fact against another.^[12]
• 1256 – the Picatrix has pero que “although”.^[12]
• 1517 – first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[18]
• 1591 – Percyvall translates it “but”, with Latin sed, tamen, at.^[19]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the conjunction and the noun “flaw”.^[13]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. but: sets an idea against what was said before, or adds a qualification to it: Es caro, pero dura muchos años.^[3][1]
2. Used at the start of a sentence, without reference to anything before, to give emphasis or show surprise: Pero ¿quién te ha contado eso?^[3][1]
3. (obsolete) Rather, but instead, after a negative: the sense now expressed by sino.^[3]

Noun

1. (colloquial) A flaw or objection: A todo le encuentra algún pero.^[3][1]

Related words

• empero
• Latin per
• Italian però

Usage notes

Pero que muy strengthens an adjective or adverb: la sopa estaba pero que muy rica.^[3] A separate word pero, the DLE's first homograph, is a variety of apple tree with fruit longer than it is wide, and its fruit; it comes from Latin pirum (“pear”) and the BDELC dates it 1555.^[3][20] In Berceo peros are pear trees, a sense still current in Navarre according to Lanchetas, while the Diccionario de Autoridades describes the pero as a kind of apple.^[21][13] The phrase ese pero no está maduro warns someone not to go on with a plan at a bad moment.^[3] Pero is also the old form of the name Pedro, as in perojiménez, a grape variety.^[3][22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. pero
4. ^ a b c d Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 547
5. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses
6. ^ a b c d e Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 456
7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. pero
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. pero
11. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 229
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. pero
15. ^ Alcalá Venceslada, Antonio (1951), Vocabulario andaluz, Madrid: Real Academia Española, p. 675
16. ^ a b Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 224
17. ^ Borao, Jerónimo (1908), Diccionario de voces aragonesas, 2nd ed., Zaragoza: Imprenta del Hospicio Provincial, p. 18
18. ^ 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. pero
19. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 188
20. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pera
21. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 582
22. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pero