perpetuar

Forms

perpetuar (first-person singular present perpetúo, first-person singular preterite perpetué, past participle perpetuado)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin perpetuāre (“to make permanent, perpetuate”).^[2][1][3] DICCA-XV treats it as a derivative of perpetuo.^[4] The Latin verb is formed on perpetuus (“continuous, perpetual”), made of per-, petō (“to make for, seek”) and -uus;^[5][1] Corominas explains the adjective as a derivative of the verb with the intensive force of the prefix.^[5][1][6][7]

Corominas dates the verb to Juan de Mena, about 1450.^[6][7] French perpétuer was taken from the same Latin verb about 1370, and Italian perpetuare is the Italian form.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Alfonso X's Estoria de España (1270–1284), which says of the Spanish prince that fame perpetuates whatever he does: al qual la fama de qual quier cosa lo perpetua.^[10][11] The sense is to give something a long duration.^[10]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the verb is used above all of memory, names and fame: Pero López de Ayala (1402) writes para perpetuar nonbres “to perpetuate names”, and Villena (1423) says that writing made the memory of the ancients last.^[12] In the Americas it is recorded from 1517 in Santo Domingo, often pronominally, of settlers who establish themselves for good in a land.^[13]

Autoridades noted that it was more commonly used for giving things a long duration, and quoted Es en el hombre natural el apetito de perpetuarse “it is natural in man to wish to perpetuate himself”.^[14] Terreros gave the example of swindlers who drag out lawsuits.^[15] Moliner names perpetuar la memoria and la fama as typical uses, and VOX the perpetuation of the species.^[16][17]

Timeline

• 1270–1284 – the Estoria de España uses perpetua of fame.^[10]
• 1402 – Pero López de Ayala writes perpetuar nonbres.^[12]
• 1414 – the past participle perpetuado appears in an ordinance given to Zaragoza.^[12]
• c. 1450 – Juan de Mena, Corominas's first record.^[6][7]
• 1517 – first record in the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[13]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades records the pronominal perpetuarse.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the Latin source, perpetuare.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To make something perpetual (perpetuo) or lasting; to perpetuate: Quisieron perpetuar su nombre con una fundación.^[2][16][1]
2. (transitive, also pronominal) To give something a long duration;^[1] perpetuarse, to last, endure: Esa costumbre se ha perpetuado durante siglos.^[2][17][16]

Word family

• perpetuación

Related words

• perpetuo
• perpetuidad
• pedir
• Latin perpetuus

Usage notes

It is conjugated like actuar, with a stressed ú in perpetúo, perpetúa.^[16][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. perpetuar
3. ^ 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. 819
4. ^ 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. perpetuar
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 457
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. perpetuo
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. perpétuer
9. ^ 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. 570
10. ^ 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. perpetuar
11. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. perpetuar
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. perpetuar
13. ^ 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. perpetuar
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 230
15. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 106
16. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. perpetuar
17. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. perpetuar