pronto

Forms

pronto (feminine pronta, masculine plural prontos, feminine plural prontas)^[1] Until the 17th century the word was mostly written prompto, as in Latin;^[2][3] Cervantes already wrote pronto, and Autoridades explains that usage dropped the ⟨m⟩ and ⟨p⟩ to ease the pronunciation.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin promptus (“visible; ready, at hand; resolute”), the past participle of prōmō (“to bring out; to reveal”), which is formed from prō- and emō (“to take”).^[2][4][5][1] It is a learned word: Corominas dates the adjective to 1490 and the adverb to about 1800.^[4][2]

The same Latin word was taken as Portuguese pronto, Catalan prompte, French prompt and Italian pronto.^[6][7] The French word is first recorded as Old French prons in 1174, and was later respelled after Latin.^[8] Spanish and French developed the idea of speed already latent in the Latin sense “at hand, ready for use”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario (1490) has the adjective as prompto, in the gloss intentus: el que está prompto para oyr “one who is ready to listen”.^[2] The same sense, “ready, prepared”, is the earliest in the Americas: que él estava pronto a hacerle justicia “that he was ready to do him justice”, in Mexico City, 1532.^[10]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the adjective meant “ready, prepared” and “quick, prompt”;^[2] Cervantes uses it often, but neither Nebrija nor Covarrubias lists it.^[2] Autoridades defines it as “swift” and “ready to carry something out”, and records the noun un pronto “a sudden impulse of passion”.^[3][2]

The adverb, “soon, quickly”, is much later: Autoridades and Terreros do not have it; it appears in Fernández de Moratín, and the Academy entered it in 1817.^[2] The 1884 dictionary added the phrases primer pronto “first impulse”, al pronto “at first sight” and de pronto “suddenly”.^[11] In Spain the adverb now also means “early”, as in levantarse pronto.^[5][12]

In Puerto Rico el pronto is the down payment made when a hire-purchase contract is signed.^[13][14] Judeo-Spanish kept the older adjective, “ready”, as in el komer esta pronto “the meal is ready”.^[15]

Timeline

• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia uses prompto “ready”.^[2][4]
• 1515 – first record of the derivative prontitud.^[4]
• 1532 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City.^[10]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades records the adjective and the noun “sudden impulse”.^[3]
• c. 1800 – the adverb “soon” appears; the Academy enters it in 1817.^[4][2]
• 1884 – the Academy adds al pronto and de pronto.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. quick, swift, prompt: Le deseamos una pronta mejoría.^[5][12]
2. ready, prepared to do something: Estaba pronto para salir en cuanto lo llamaran.^[5][1]

Adverb

1. Early (temprano), in the first hours of the day: Mañana me levanto pronto.^[5]
2. In good time, ahead of the expected moment: Llegamos pronto a la estación.^[5]
3. soon, sooner than expected: Volverá pronto.^[5][1]
4. Quickly (rápidamente).^[5]

Noun

1. (colloquial) A sudden reaction or impulse caused by a passion or an unexpected thought: Tuvo un pronto y colgó el teléfono.^[5]
2. (colloquial) A sudden and dramatic attack of an illness.^[5]
3. (Puerto Rico) The down payment made on signing a hire-purchase contract.^[13][14]

Word family

• prontitud
• aprontar
• prontamente

Related words

• prontuario
• Latin promptus
• French prompt

Usage notes

Set phrases include de pronto “suddenly”, al pronto “at first”, por lo pronto or por de pronto “for the time being”, tan pronto como “as soon as” and hasta pronto “see you soon”.^[5][1][11]

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 Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 660
3. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 402
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pronto
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. pronto
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. promptus
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 5233
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. prompt
9. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. pronto
10. ^ 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. prompto
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 871
12. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pronto
13. ^ 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. pronto
14. ^ a b Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. pronto
15. ^ Nehama, Joseph (1977), Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol, Madrid: CSIC, p. s.v. pronto