programa

Forms

programa m (plural programas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin programma (“proclamation, edict”), from Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma, “public notice”).^[2][1][3] The Greek noun is formed on προγράφω (prográphō, “to announce in writing”), from πρό (pró, “before”) and γράφω (gráphō, “to write”).^[3][4][5] In Greek it meant a public proclamation or notice, and also the agenda of the council or assembly;^[6] the Latin word, postclassical, meant a proclamation or edict.^[7] Vox describes the Spanish word as borrowed directly from Greek in the 18th century.^[8]

Corominas first finds it in the Diccionario de Autoridades, and there only in the sense “a name whose letters are to be rearranged into an anagram”; the modern sense is in the Academy's dictionary by 1843.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest reliable hits in the CDH come from Mexico in 1683, from the poetic contest of Sigüenza y Góngora's Triunfo parténico: each poet is to render a Latin text in the metre that suits it best, con tal que sea breve, y éste su programa, “provided it is brief, and this is its theme”, followed by a verse of the Vulgate.^[9] The theme set for a composition is the sense the Academy later lists as “the theme given for a speech, design or painting”.^[2] An earlier hit dated 1578–1584 speaks of a radio programme and its announcer, so it is not a 16th-century text.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Terreros still gives only the anagram sense, and notes that Latin programma properly meant an edict or a notice posted to order something.^[10] The Academy's 1843 dictionary defines the word as an edict or public notice and as a theme for a speech, design or painting;^[11] the 1869 edition adds the syllabus of a course,^[12] and the 1884 edition, which also gives the etymology, adds a previous statement of what one plans to do and the announcement of the parts of an event.^[13] In 1855 Baralt noted that the word was also used for the announcement of a ceremony or show and for the political programme of a ministry, and recommended prospecto instead.^[14]

In the 20th century it came to mean a radio or television programme and a computer program.^[2][15] In Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Bolivia it is colloquially a casual love affair, a date, or a casual sexual partner.^[2][16] Corominas notes that the verb programar is well rooted in Argentina and other American countries.^[4]

Timeline

• 1683 – Mexico: programa for the theme of a poetic contest in the Triunfo parténico.^[9]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades has it only for the name given to make an anagram.^[4][17]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros gives the same anagram sense.^[10]
• 1843 – the modern sense “edict, public notice” is in the Academy's dictionary.^[4][11]
• 1855 – Baralt discusses its use for a show's announcement and a political programme.^[14]
• 1860 – Santo Domingo, the first American record in Boyd-Bowman.^[18]
• 1869 – the Academy adds the syllabus of a course.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology and the sense “previous statement of intentions”.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) An edict, proclamation or public notice.^[2]
2. A prior statement of what one plans to do; a political programme: El partido presentó ayer su programa.^[2][15]
3. A theme set for a speech, a design or a painting.^[2]
4. The syllabus of a course or subject.^[2]
5. An announcement of the parts of an event or show, and the printed leaflet containing it: Hojeamos el programa antes de que empezara la función.^[2]
6. A planned set of activities; an ordered series of operations needed to carry out a project.^[2]
7. A programme or show on radio or television: Esta noche dan un programa sobre volcanes.^[2][1]
8. (computing) A computer program; also each of the sets of operations that some machines perform in order.^[2][1]
9. (Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, colloquial) A date or a casual love affair; a casual sexual partner.^[2][16]

Word family

• programar
• programación
• programático

Related words

• gráfico
• gramática
• Late Latin programma

Usage notes

The word is masculine (el programa) although it ends in -a.^[1] In the Spanish of New Mexico it is often feminine, la programa.^[19] Programa continuo is a continuous cinema showing.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. programa
3. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 573
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 189
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. gramático
6. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. programa
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. programa
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 591
12. ^ a b 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 Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 559
15. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. programa
16. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. programa
17. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 325
18. ^ 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. programa
19. ^ Cobos, Rubén (1983), A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish, Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, p. 159