pretexto

Forms

pretexto m (plural pretextos)^[1] The spelling pretesto is found beside pretexto in texts of the 16th and 17th centuries, in Spain and in the Americas.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin praetextus (“appearance, show; pretext”).^[4][5][1] The Latin noun was formed from praetexō (“to border, edge; to put forward as an excuse”), which Corominas glosses as “to put something in front as an embroidery or a weave”.^[5][6] The verb is made of prae- (“before”) and texō (“to weave”).^[7][8] The Latin weaving verb goes back to Proto-Italic *teksō, and de Vaan derives it from Proto-Indo-European *teḱ-s- (“to fashion”).^[9][1]

The DCECH treats the word among the learned words of the family of tejer, the inherited outcome of the same verb, beside texto and contexto.^[5] The same Latin noun gave Catalan pretext, French prétexte, Italian pretesto and English pretext.^[10][11] Corominas dates the Spanish word to the early 17th century, noting that neither Oudin nor Covarrubias has it, and Segura Munguía and Vox give the same century.^[5][10][12] The CDH has the noun some decades earlier, from 1549.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the CDH the noun “pretext” is first found in 1549, in Jerónimo de Urrea's translation of the Orlando furioso: Mi Estado me tomaste con pretexto de parentesco “you took my state from me on the pretext of kinship”.^[2] Earlier hits are of other kinds: in legal documents of 1386 and 1388 pretesto is a verb form beside pretestava, and around 1400 Pero López de Ayala's translation of Livy uses pretexto for a garment worn by noble Romans.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense was established in the second half of the 16th century, mostly in phrases such as con pretexto de and so pretexto de “under the pretext of”, used by Furió Ceriol, Saint John of the Cross and Ribadeneira.^[2] The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as the feigned or apparent motive alleged for doing something or for excusing oneself from having done it, and gave the Latin noun as its source.^[13] Terreros gave French prétexte and Italian pretesto as equivalents, and the Academy's definition has changed little since; its 1884 edition was the first to add the etymology.^[14][15][4]

The Roman garment, the toga with a purple border, is today pretexta, a separate borrowing of Latin praetexta; the verb pretextar “to give as a pretext” belongs to the same family.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – Pero López de Ayala's translation of Livy uses pretexto for a Roman garment.^[2]
• 1549 – first record of the noun “pretext”, in Jerónimo de Urrea's translation of the Orlando furioso.^[2]
• 1559 – Furió Ceriol writes of things hidden baxo el pretexto del servicio del Príncipe “under the pretext of the prince's service”.^[2]
• 1578–c. 1583 – Saint John of the Cross uses con pretexto de oración “on the pretext of prayer”.^[2]
• 1634 – first record from the Americas, in Lima, spelt pretesto.^[3]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines the word, with quotations from Ribadeneira and Ferrer.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, Latin praetextus.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pretext: a feigned or apparent reason given for doing something or for not having done it: Se fue temprano con el pretexto de un dolor de cabeza.^[4][16][1]

Word family

• pretextar

Related words

• tejer
• texto
• contexto
• Latin praetextus

Usage notes

The word is mostly used in the phrases con el pretexto de, so pretexto de and a pretexto de “on the pretext of”.^[16][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. pretexto
3. ^ 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. pretesto
4. ^ 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. pretexto
5. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 450
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. praetextus
7. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. pretexto
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. praetexō
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 93
11. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 942
12. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. pretexto
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 371
14. ^ 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, 208
15. ^ 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. 863
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pretexto