preñar

Forms

preñar (first-person singular present preño, first-person singular preterite preñé, past participle preñado)^[1]

Etymology

The DLE takes the modern verb as a back-formation from Spanish preñado, the adjective “pregnant”.^[2] Corominas likewise thinks the verb was formed again from preñada in some modern varieties, to avoid the coarse figurative use of the usual verb of all periods, empreñar.^[3] He finds one early record, preinnaret (“she conceived”) in the Glosas Silenses, and then no trace of the verb until modern speech.^[3]

The DLE's 2001 edition, Wiktionary, García de Diego and Moliner derive it instead from a Vulgar Latin verb *praegnāre, which Wiktionary says is attested in Medieval Latin.^[4][1][5][6] García de Diego connects it with impraegnāre, the source of that verb.^[5][3]

The adjective itself continues the Vulgar Latin praegnāta, which replaced the classical Latin praegnās (“pregnant”).^[3][7] Corominas takes this to be the original form, and praegnāns an over-correction.^[3][7] The Latin adjective is formed with prae- (“before”) and the root of nāscor (“to be born”).^[1][8] The other Ibero-Romance languages have Portuguese prenhe and Catalan prenys, from a Vulgar Latin *praegnis.^[3][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The only early record of the verb is preinnaret, which the Glosas Silenses of the second half of the 10th century write over Latin concepta est “she conceived”.^[3][11] The many medieval hits for prennada in the CDH, from the Liber Regum (c. 1194–1211) on, are the adjective preñada: the queen rremaso … prennada “was left pregnant” when her husband was killed.^[12][3]

Semantic evolution

Old and Classical Spanish used empreñar for “make pregnant” and “become pregnant”, and Nebrija gives only that verb.^[3] The Academy's 2001 dictionary still defines preñar by empreñar; today the DLE gives it two senses, “impregnate a female” and “fill”.^[4][2]

In the Americas preñar became the usual form: Santamaría (1959) calls it the only common form in Mexico, with empreñar vulgar and rural, and Malaret (1946) lists it for Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico and Puerto Rico.^[13][14] The Chilean purist Román told his readers to say empreñar.^[15] Newer regional senses include the forcing of pineapple plants in Honduras and the hiding of drugs in a truck in the Dominican Republic.^[16][17]

Timeline

• c. 950–1000 – the Glosas Silenses gloss concepta est as preinnaret.^[3][11]
• c. 1194–1211 – the Liber Regum has the adjective prennada “pregnant”, the base of the modern verb.^[12]
• 1220–1250 – Corominas's first record of preñada, in Berceo.^[7][3]
• 1251 – first record of empreñar “make pregnant”.^[7]
• 1946 – Malaret records preñar for empreñar in five countries of the Americas.^[14]
• 1959 – Santamaría calls preñar the only usual form in Mexico.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To impregnate, make a female pregnant; of women, colloquial.^[2][6][1]
2. To fill (with something): preñar el discurso de amenazas.^[2][6]
3. (Honduras) In pineapple growing, to force the plant to flower and fruit by treating it with carbide and ethylene.^[16]
4. (Dominican Republic, slang) To fill a truck secretly with drugs.^[17]

Related words

• preñado
• preñez
• empreñar
• impregnar
• Latin praegnās
• Portuguese prenhe

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. preñar
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 642
4. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. preñar
5. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. preñar
6. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. preñar
7. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. preñada
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2693
11. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 289
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. preñar
13. ^ a b Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Porrúa, p. 887
14. ^ a b Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 682
15. ^ 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. 430
16. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. preñar
17. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. preñar