político

Forms

político (feminine política, masculine plural políticos, feminine plural políticas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin polīticus (“relating to civil government, political”),^[2][3][1] a Latin borrowing of Ancient Greek πολιτικός (politikós, “of or relating to citizens; of the State”).^[4][2] The Greek adjective is formed from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”) with the suffix -ικός (-ikós),^[1] and so goes back to πόλις (pólis, “city, State”).^[2][5] The feminine noun política is from Greek πολιτική (politikḗ).^[3]

The same learned word is Catalan polític, first recorded at the end of the 14th century in Eiximenis,^[6] French politique, taken from Latin in 1365 by Oresme,^[7] and Portuguese político, of the 15th century.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas finds it first in the middle of the 15th century, in the Marquis of Santillana and Pérez de Guzmán, and then in Alonso de Palencia.^[2] Nebrija glosses it cosa de cibdad “a thing of the city”, Latin politicus.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is already frequent in the classical writers of the 16th and 17th centuries.^[2] Beside the sense “of government or the State” it then meant “civilized” and “well-mannered”: Lope uses it so, and the Guzmán de Alfarache speaks of being raised by padres políticos y curiosos “refined, careful parents”.^[2] Early texts from the Americas use it of an orderly, civil way of life: in 1550 the natives of Nueva Galicia were to be raised a vida más política y razional “to a more civil and rational life”.^[9] The Academy's 1869 dictionary gave three senses: “of politics”, “courteous” and “versed in the affairs of government”.^[10]

The kinship sense, “related by marriage” (hermano político “brother-in-law”), is recent: Corominas finds it first in Moratín's El sí de las niñas (1806), and notes that no other language has it, not even Catalan.^[2] He suggests it grew out of the sense “ceremonious”, since one stands on ceremony with in-laws and not with blood relatives (compare French beau-frère), or less probably from the idea of “legal”, as in English father-in-law.^[2] The Academy's 1899 dictionary gives it with the examples padre político “father-in-law” and hermano político “brother-in-law”.^[11] In Chile Corominas heard it still used of good manners, especially in the noun política “ceremony”.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – first records, in Santillana and Pérez de Guzmán.^[2]
• 1454 – the verb politizar appears in Arévalo.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija glosses político as cosa de cibdad, Latin politicus.^[2]
• 1550 – in Nueva Galicia the word describes a civil, orderly way of life.^[9]
• 1597 – the noun política in the title of Castillo de Bobadilla's Política para corregidores.^[2]
• 1806 – hermano político “brother-in-law” in Moratín's El sí de las niñas.^[2]
• 1869 – the Academy lists the senses “of politics”, “courteous” and “versed in government”.^[10]
• 1884 – the kinship sense enters the Academy's dictionary.^[2]
• 1899 – the Academy gives the kinship sense with padre político and hermano político, and the etymology from Latin and Greek.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. political: relating to política as the theory or doctrine of government, or as the activity of governing: un debate político.^[3][1]
2. Polite, courteous.^[3]
3. Courteous but cold and reserved, where warmth was expected.^[3]
4. Of a person: taking part in government and the affairs of the State.^[3]
5. Related by marriage, in-law: padre político “father-in-law”, hermano político “brother-in-law”.^[3][1][12]

Noun

1. A politician: Varios políticos visitaron la fábrica cerrada.^[3][1][13]

Word family

• política
• politiquear
• politizar
• apolítico
• políticamente
• sociopolítico
• politicastro
• politiquería

Related words

• Latin polīticus
• Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis)
• French politique

Usage notes

Leonese dialects use estar político con alguien for being on bad terms with someone.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 598
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. político
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. polīticus
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 558
6. ^ 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, 646
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. politique
8. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2646
9. ^ 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. político
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 617
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 795
12. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. político
13. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. político
14. ^ 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. político