prever

Forms

prever (first-person singular present preveo, first-person singular preterite preví, past participle previsto)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin praevideō (“to see beforehand, foresee”), adapted to the form and conjugation of ver.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary calls it a borrowing that can also be analysed as from Spanish pre- + ver.^[1] The Academy's dictionaries of 1884 and 1899 derived it from the Spanish prefix and verb; the current one gives the Latin verb.^[6][7][4] The Latin verb is formed prae- (“before”) and videō (“to see”), the source of the Spanish verb.^[8][2]

Corominas's first record is the form preveer in Oudin's dictionary.^[2][3] The modern form follows in the 17th century.^[2] Earlier records in the CDH are mostly of the participle previsto: Juan Fernández de Heredia uses it in his translation of Thucydides (c. 1384–1396), and the Arcipreste de Talavera in 1438 (in a copy of 1466).^[9] DICCA-XV dates its first record 1445–1463 and reports 1376–1396 from the CORDE.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Oudin's dictionary of 1607 has the form preveer.^[2][3] The Diccionario de Autoridades defines prever as to see in advance, to know from signs what is going to happen, quoting a tercet on the Passion by Esquilache: De quien el vano errór fuere previsto “of whom the vain error will have been foreseen”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Terreros glossed it as to see or know something before it happens, to conjecture its existence, and gave French prévoir and Latin praevidere.^[12] Domínguez added the sense of taking precautions in consequence of what one foresees.^[13] Today the Academy gives three senses: to see beforehand, to foresee from signs, and to prepare means against future contingencies.^[4]

The form preveer, conjugated like proveer, lived on in the Americas: Boyd-Bowman has prevehe in Puebla in 1545.^[14] In the 19th century grammarians condemned it: Rodríguez in Chile, quoting Barros Arana, Batres in Guatemala and Cuervo in Bogotá insisted that compounds of ver are conjugated like it.^[15][16][17]

Timeline

• c. 1384–1396 – Fernández de Heredia's Thucydides has the participle preuisto.^[9]
• 1438 – the Corbacho has previsto (in a copy of 1466).^[9]
• 1445–1463 – the first record in the DICCA-XV corpus.^[10]
• 1545 – the form preveer in Puebla, Mexico.^[14]
• 1607 – Oudin records preveer, the first record in Corominas.^[2][3]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades has prever, from Latin praevidere.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from pre- and ver.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To see in advance; to preview.^[4][18]
2. To foresee, anticipate: to know or guess from signs what is going to happen: Nadie previó la subida de los precios.^[4][1]
3. To prepare or arrange means against future contingencies: El plan prevé ayudas para los afectados.^[4][1]

Word family

• previsible
• previsor
• imprevisto

Related words

• previsión
• ver
• proveer
• Latin praevideō

Usage notes

Prever is conjugated like ver (preveo, previó, previsto); the forms of preveer, conjugated like proveer, are nonstandard.^[1][19][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 713
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ver
4. ^ 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. prever
5. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. prever
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 810
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. prever
10. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. prever
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 374
12. ^ 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, 209
13. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1421
14. ^ 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. preveer
15. ^ Rodríguez, Zorobabel (1875), Diccionario de chilenismos, Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de El Independiente, p. 1
16. ^ a b Batres Jáuregui, Antonio (1892), Vicios del lenguaje y provincialismos de Guatemala, Guatemala: Encuadernación y Tipografía Nacional, p. 470
17. ^ Cuervo, Rufino José (1914), Apuntaciones críticas sobre el lenguaje bogotano, 6th ed., París: A. & R. Roger y F. Chernoviz, p. 79
18. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
19. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. prever