preludio

Forms

preludio m (plural preludios)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin praelūdium (“prelude, preliminary performance”), a derivative of praelūdō (“to play beforehand”).^[2][3][1] Corominas dates it to the beginning of the 17th century, but the CDH has it from the 1450s.^[4][5] The Academy's dictionary of 1884 derived it from preludiar instead, which Corominas treats as its derivative.^[6][4]

The Latin verb is prae- (“before”) added to lūdō (“to play”).^[7][3] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Italic *loid-e/o- (“to play”) and Proto-Indo-European *loid- (“to let go frequently, play”).^[8] The same word is Catalan preludi, French prélude and Italian preludio.^[9][10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first CDH hit is in Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo's Vergel de los príncipes (1454–1457): a prince should not give up the exercises and preludios que son ymagen de guerra, the “preludes that are an image of war”.^[5] The sense there is a preparatory exercise.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Juan del Encina (1496) used it for the opening of a work, entrada y preludio de mi propósito.^[5] Autoridades defined it as a speech or action that begins something else, like the prologue of a book.^[12] Terreros recorded the musical sense, a piece played as an interlude or introduction, and the 1884 edition of the Academy's dictionary gave the scales and runs played before the main piece.^[13][6] Today the DLE also has a short free composition and the overture of a work.^[2][14]

Timeline

• 1454–1457 – Sánchez de Arévalo's Vergel de los príncipes has preludios as exercises for war.^[5]
• 1496 – Juan del Encina calls his translation of the Bucolics the preludio of his purpose.^[5]
• 1605 – the first record from the Americas, in Nueva Galicia.^[15]
• early 17th century – the first record for Corominas.^[4][16]
• 1737 – Autoridades defines it.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy defines the musical sense.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something that comes before and serves as an introduction, preparation or beginning to something else: La tormenta fue el preludio de un invierno duro.^[2][17][1]
2. (music) What is played or sung to try the voice, test the instruments or set the key before a performance.^[2][17]
3. (music) A short composition of free form, usually meant to come before other works; a prelude.^[2][14][1]
4. (music) An overture or sinfonia that opens a work.^[2]

Word family

• preludiar

Related words

• ludibrio
• aludir
• ilusión
• Latin praelūdium

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. preludio
3. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. preludio
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ilusión
5. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. preludio
6. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 859
7. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. preludio
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. preludi
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. prélude
11. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 589
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 355
13. ^ 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, 199
14. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. preludio
15. ^ 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. preludio
16. ^ 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. 385
17. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. preludio