pomposo

Forms

pomposo (feminine pomposa, masculine plural pomposos, feminine plural pomposas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin pompōsus (“stately, solemn”), formed from Latin pompa (“procession; pomp”) with the suffix -ōsus.^[2][1][3] The Latin adjective is post-classical, and in Medieval Latin it also described a high-sounding style.^[3][4] Corominas lists the Spanish word as a derivative of pompa, with the same first record, of 1438.^[5][6]

The same Latin adjective gave Italian pomposo and Catalan pompós.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas and the Breve diccionario first find it in the Corbacho (1438) and in Juan de Mena.^[5][6] Alonso de Palencia used it to translate Latin superbus “proud, haughty”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades gave two senses: “ostentatious, magnificent, grave”, with a quotation that allows a debtor's funeral its necessary costs aunque no las pomposas “though not the showy ones”, and “hollow, swollen and spread out in a circle”.^[8] Terreros also used it of a horse that steps proudly and spiritedly.^[9] In 1884 the Academy added the figurative sense of language or style decked out for show.^[10] The DLE now also applies it to a person who speaks pompously.^[2]

Timeline

• 1438 – the Corbacho, the first record.^[6][5]
• 1636 – first record from the Americas, in Lima, of a funeral con muy pomposo acompañamiento “with a very pompous retinue”.^[11]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades gives the senses “ostentatious” and “swollen, puffed out”.^[8]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the sense of an ornate style.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. ostentatious, magnificent, stately: Celebraron una ceremonia pomposa en la catedral.^[2][12]
2. Hollow, puffed out and spread in a circle.^[2]
3. Of language or style: overly solemn and ornate; pompous, bombastic.^[2][1][12]
4. Of a person: who expresses himself or herself in a pompous way.^[2]

Word family

• pomposidad
• pomposamente

Related words

• pompa
• Latin pompōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. pomposo
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 603
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pompa
7. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto
8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 318
9. ^ 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, 175
10. ^ 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. 848
11. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
12. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos