proverbial

Forms

proverbial m or f (masculine and feminine plural proverbiales)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōverbiālis (“proverbial”).^[2][1] By surface analysis it is proverbio with the suffix -al, and Corominas lists it among the derivatives of that noun in the family of verbo.^[1][3][4]

The Latin adjective is formed of prōverbium (“proverb, saying”) and the suffix -ālis.^[5] The noun is formed of prō- and verbum (“word”).^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in the CDH is in El Tostado's Libro de las paradojas (1437, in a later 15th-century copy), which speaks of aquella proverbial et comun locuçion, “that proverbial and common saying”, before quoting a Latin maxim.^[7] The first record without a later copy is in Alfonso de Palencia's vocabulary of 1490, which speaks of the speçie proverbial.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija's Latin–Spanish dictionary of 1492 glossed Latin proverbialis as “a thing of a refrán”.^[8] Autoridades (1737) defined it as what belongs to or contains a proverb.^[9] The Academy added the sense “very well known” in 1869, and the DLE now defines it as known to all and of long standing.^[10][2] In the Americas this sense is recorded in Santo Domingo in 1859.^[11]

Timeline

• 1437 – first record, in El Tostado's Libro de las paradojas.^[7]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia uses the word in his Universal vocabulario.^[7]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin proverbialis.^[8]
• 1737 – Autoridades defines it as belonging to a proverb.^[9]
• 1859 – first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo, in the sense “well known”.^[11]
• 1869 – the Academy adds the sense “very well known”.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a proverb (proverbio).^[2][1]
2. Containing a proverb: frase proverbial.^[2]
3. Very well known; proverbial, legendary: Todos conocían su proverbial paciencia.^[2][12]

Related words

• proverbio
• verbo
• refrán
• Latin prōverbiālis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. proverbial
3. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 780
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. verbo
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. prōuerbiālis
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. prōuerbium
7. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. proverbial
8. ^ 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. proverbial
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 415
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 639
11. ^ 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. proverbial
12. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. proverbial