profuso

Forms

profuso (feminine profusa, masculine plural profusos, feminine plural profusas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin profūsus (“poured out; lavish”), the past participle of profundō (“to pour out; squander”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from prō- (“forward, forth”) and fundō (“to pour”).^[5][6] De Vaan derives the simple verb from the present Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰu-n-d- (“to pour”).^[7]

The BDELC and the DCECH list it among the learned words of the family of fundir, beside difuso, confuso and infuso.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH's first record is in G. de Salas, who died in 1651, and the BDELC dates the word to the middle of the 17th century.^[3][4] Segura gives the same date in 2014, though his 2001 dictionary printed the middle of the 16th.^[8][9] Autoridades defines it as abundant, copious, and superfluously excessive in spending.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Terreros equated it with pródigo “prodigal” and derramado “spilled, lavish”.^[11] The Academy kept the definition of Autoridades through the 19th century and added the Latin etymology in 1884.^[12][13] The DLE now separates the sense “abundant, copious” from “lavished to excess”.^[2] Moliner labels it learned and notes that it is used of things that are not physical, such as a writer's output.^[14]

Timeline

• before 1651 – first record, in G. de Salas.^[3]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines it as abundant and excessive in spending.^[10]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros equates it with pródigo.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin profusus.^[13]
• 1935 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. abundant, copious, profuse: un texto con profusas notas.^[2][14][1]
2. Lavished to excess.^[2]

Related words

• profusión
• fundir
• difuso
• confuso
• efusión

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. profuso
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 976
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. fundir
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 605
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 397
11. ^ a b 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, 222
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 636
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. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. profuso
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. profuso