profundo

Forms

profundo (feminine profunda, masculine plural profundos, feminine plural profundas, superlative profundísimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin profundus (“deep”), and the learned doublet of the inherited hondo, which comes from the same Latin adjective or from its base.^[2][3][1][4] The Latin word is formed prō- and fundus (“bottom”).^[1][5] The noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn.^[1]

The popular outcome of the Latin adjective is Catalan pregon, through prevon.^[4][6] The Old Occitan forms were preon and pregon, with dissimilation of the first syllable.^[7] The Old French form was parfont, with a change of prefix, which was later remade as French profond after the Latin.^[7][8] Corominas suggests that the inherited adjective itself comes from Old Spanish fondo, shortened from a dialect form perfondo of the second half of the 13th century, whose per- was taken for an intensive prefix.^[2] Wiktionary instead derives the inherited adjective from the Latin noun used as an adjective.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Fuero Juzgo (1254?) has the word in the figurative sense “hard to fathom, vast, penetrating”.^[9][10] The BDELC dates the learned doublet to 1335.^[2]

Semantic evolution

García de Diego calls profundo a cultismo, beside the inherited hondo.^[4][2] Covarrubias (1611) defines it as what has great depth, such as el profundo del mar, and notes that it sometimes means “hidden, mysterious”.^[11] The Diccionario de Autoridades already has most of the modern senses: deeper than usual, extended lengthwise (selva profunda), intense (profundo sueño), great (profunda erudición) and, of reverence, very humble.^[12] The 1884 Academy dictionary adds what penetrates far, like roots or a wound, and what is hard to understand.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1254 – the Fuero Juzgo has profundo.^[9][10]
• 1335 – the BDELC's date for the learned doublet of hondo.^[2]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin profundus as cosa honda.^[14]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records el profundo del mar.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the sense “hard to understand”.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. deep: having its bottom far from the mouth or edge: un lago profundo.^[3][1][15]
2. Dug deeper than usual.^[3]
3. Extending far back, having great depth from front to back: una sala profunda.^[3]
4. Reaching far in or down: un corte profundo.^[3][15]
5. (figurative) Intense, strong: un dolor profundo.^[3]
6. (figurative) Hard to penetrate or understand.^[3]
7. (figurative) Of the mind or its works: wide-ranging and penetrating, profound.^[3][1]

Word family

• profundidad
• profundizar
• profundamente

Related words

• fondo
• hondo
• Latin profundus
• Catalan pregon

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. hondo
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. profundo
4. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. profundus
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. profundo
6. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 785
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. profond
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6772
9. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. profundo
10. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org, p. s.v. profundo
11. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1231
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 396
13. ^ 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. 869
14. ^ 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. profundo
15. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. profundo