preservativo

Forms

preservativo (feminine preservativa, masculine plural preservativos, feminine plural preservativas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin praeservātīvus, according to the DTME, which dates the word in Spanish from 1422 and in French from 1314.^[2] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of preservar, and Wikcionario analyses it as from Spanish preservar + -ativo.^[3][4][5] The verb comes from Late Latin praeservō, formed prae- (“before”) and servō (“to keep”).^[3][4][2][6]

The sense “condom” is recorded in French from the early 20th century.^[2] In the Spanish of the United States the word also means a food preservative (conservante), after English preservative.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DTME dates the first Spanish record to 1422.^[2] Early uses are medical: a 1625 text from the Americas speaks of herbs as an antidote and perservativo against a deadly poison.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The 1737 Autoridades defined the adjective as having the power to preserve, used sometimes as a noun, and quoted a sermon on the gracia preservativa that kept the Virgin from original sin.^[9] Terreros described the noun as a remedy against harm or illness and noted that its Latin model was not good Latinity.^[10] In the Americas the noun named remedies and precautions, as against the plague in 1681.^[8]

Alemany's dictionary of 1917 was the first to record the colloquial sense “condom”, which is now the main sense of the noun.^[11][12][13] In the Spanish of the United States it can also mean a food preservative.^[7]

Timeline

• 1314 – French préservatif.^[2]
• 1422 – first record in Spanish.^[2]
• 1625 – first record from the Americas, of a remedy against poison.^[8]
• 1737 – the Autoridades defines the adjective.^[9]
• 1917 – Alemany records the sense “condom”.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having the power to preserve or protect; preservative, preventive (preventivo): un tratamiento preservativo de la madera.^[12][2][1]

Noun

1. A condom: a thin elastic sheath worn over the penis during intercourse to prevent pregnancy or infection.^{[12][2][1][13]}
2. (United States) A food preservative (conservante).^[7]

Related words

• preservar
• preservación
• conservar
• condón
• profiláctico
• French préservatif

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. preservativo
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 177
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. conservar
5. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. preservativo
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Moreno-Fernández, Francisco (2018), Diccionario de anglicismos del español estadounidense (Informes del Observatorio 037-01/2018SP), Cambridge, Mass.: Instituto Cervantes at Harvard University, p. 79
8. ^ a b c 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. preservativo
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 365
10. ^ 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, 205
11. ^ a b Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1367
12. ^ a b c 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. preservativo
13. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. preservativo