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platina

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word platina

platina1 platinum

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1748 Antonio de Ulloa
Ultimate origins
Latin *plattaSpanish -ina
Etymology tree of platina1
inherited borrowed derived
Spanish plata
Spanish platina

Pronunciation

  • /plaˈtina/, [plaˈt̪i.na][1]

Forms

platina f (uncountable)[1]

Etymology

The word for platinum is formed from Spanish plata + -ina, a diminutive meaning “little silver”.[2][1][3] The metal looks like silver, and the Spaniards at first took it for an inferior kind of silver.[4] Corominas, following Bloch, dates it to 1748, in the account of Antonio de Ulloa.[5][6][3] plata itself first meant a sheet of metal: Corominas notes that the Medieval Latin plata meant a metal plate, and the DHLF derives the word from Old Occitan plata or Old French plate, the feminine of plat (“flat”).[5][3]

From Spanish the word passed into French platine in 1752 (feminine at first, masculine from about 1780) and into English as platina in 1750; the later Spanish platino was taken back from the masculine French form.[5][6][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ulloa used it in 1748 for the new white metal found in the gold mines of New Granada.[5][3] Terreros describes it as a mineral that some count as the seventh metal, and says that attempts in Sweden, Germany and Spain had not yet made it workable under the hammer.[7]

Semantic evolution

The Academy first preferred platina for the metal, in 1817, listing platino as its equivalent.[5][8] The edition of 1843 kept platina only for the ore of platinum, a distinction the Academy later gave up.[5][9] Today the DLE simply refers platina to platino, and Wiktionary marks it as archaic.[2][1] In the Canary Islands and in Peru the word lives on for the thin metal foil used to wrap food.[10][11][1]

Timeline

  • 1748 – Antonio de Ulloa first names the metal platina.[5][3]
  • 1750 – English takes the word as platina.[4][3]
  • 1752 – French borrows it as platine.[5][3]
  • 1777 – mines of platina are reported in New Granada.[12]
  • 1817 – the Academy prefers platina and adds platino.[5][8]
  • 1843 – the Academy restricts platina to the ore of platinum.[9][5]
  • 1917 – Alemany gives platina as a synonym of platino, derived from plata.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (dated) platinum; platino.[2][14][1]
  2. (Canary Islands, Peru) Thin aluminium or tin foil used to wrap food: Guardó el queso envuelto en platina.[10][11][1]
  3. (Panama, criminal slang) A sharpened piece of iron used as a weapon.[11]

Word family

  • platino

platina2 flat plate, microscope stage

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1884 the Academy's dictionary
Borrowed from
French platine
Ultimate origin
French plat

Pronunciation

  • /plaˈtina/, [plaˈt̪i.na][1]

Forms

platina f (plural platinas)[1]

Etymology

The word for the flat plate is borrowed from French platine.[2][5][14] Corominas calls it the technical name of several kinds of disc.[5] The French word is formed from plat (“flat”) with the suffix -ine.[1][15] The Vox dictionary instead takes it from the French name of the metal, itself borrowed from the Spanish word for platinum.[16]

Semantic evolution

The Academy's dictionary of 1884 has the printing sense, a strong table covered with a smooth plate of iron, bronze or zinc on which the formes are imposed.[17] Echegaray in 1887 adds the flat stone used to polish metals and a metal ornament on carriages.[18] The microscope stage and the plate of the air pump are the first senses of the modern DLE, and in the late 20th century the word was also applied to the tape deck of a sound system, otherwise called pletina.[2][14][16]

Timeline

  • 1884 – the Academy's dictionary records the printing sense.[17]
  • 1887 – Echegaray adds the polishing stone and the carriage ornament.[18]
  • 2001 – the Academy's 22nd edition lists the microscope stage first.[19]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The stage of a microscope, on which the object to be examined is placed.[2][14][15]
  2. In an air pump, the flat disc of ground glass or metal on which the rim of the receiver fits, with a hole for the tube that draws out the air.[2]
  3. A tape deck; pletina.[2][16]
  4. (printing) A strong, broad table covered with a smooth plate of iron, bronze or zinc, on which the formes are adjusted, imposed and locked.[2]
  5. (printing) The flat bed of a printing press on which the forme is laid.[2][14]
  6. A thin rectangular piece of metal; the table of a machine tool.[15][14]

Usage notes

Most early hits for platina in the CDH are the name of the humanist Platina, author of a cookery book and lives of the popes, not this word.[20] In 16th-century inventories from Puebla and Guatemala platina is a kind of bar iron, listed beside verguejón.[12] Judeo-Spanish has platina for the metal.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. platina
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. platine
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 345
  6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. plata
  7. ^ 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, 157
  8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 682
  9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 570
  10. ^ a b Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. platina
  11. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. platina
  12. ^ 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. platina
  13. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1336
  14. ^ a b c d e f Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. platina
  15. ^ a b c Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. platina
  16. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. platina
  17. ^ 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. 840
  18. ^ a b Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 851
  19. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. platina
  20. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. platina
  21. ^ Nehama, Joseph (1977), Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol, Madrid: CSIC, p. s.v. platina

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Platina.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/platina. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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