provocativo

Forms

provocativo (feminine provocativa, masculine plural provocativos, feminine plural provocativas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin prōvocātīvus (“calling forth, eliciting”).^[2][1][3] Corominas lists it among the learned derivatives of provocar, which goes back to Latin prōvocō (“to call out; to challenge, excite”), a compound of vocō (“to call”), the verb of vōx (“voice”).^[4][5] Wiktionary adds that within Spanish it can be analysed as from Spanish provocar + -tivo.^[1]

The Late Latin adjective is post-classical, used both passively, “called forth”, and actively, of ointments that draw something out.^[6] Wiktionary analyses it as the verb with the suffix -īvus.^[1]

The same Latin word gave Catalan provocatiu, a borrowing in Catalan too,^[7] and Portuguese provocativo, recorded in Portuguese in the 15th century.^[8][9] Asturian has the variant provocatible.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record in the sources is from Mexico in 1576, of drinks that made people see visions: bebían cosas provocativas a ver visiones “they drank things that provoked them to see visions”.^[10] The same year another Mexican text calls some snails provocativos a luxuria, “provoking lust”.^[10] The word thus meant first “that causes or brings on something”, built with a or de and a noun.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as having the power to provoke, excite or drive someone to do something, quoting Laguna's Dioscorides on cassia as provocativa de orina “bringing on urine”, and added a second sense, of a quarrelsome person.^[11] The Academy kept both senses through the 19th century.^[12] From 1884 it gave the second simply as “provocador”.^[13]

Domínguez in 1846 was the first to record the sense “seductive”, of gestures and movements that arouse desire.^[14] Today the two senses of the DLE are “irritating, challenging” and “exciting”, and Moliner and VOX put the sexual sense first.^[2][15][16] In the Canaries it can describe a behaviour so improper that it causes something close to nausea.^[17]

Timeline

• 1576 – first dated records, in two texts from Mexico, of things that provoke visions or lust.^[10]
• 1636 – a text from Cuba speaks of acciones probocatibas “provocative actions” in a military context.^[10]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records it, quoting Laguna's Dioscorides.^[11]
• 1846 – Domínguez adds the sense “seductive”.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary first gives the etymology, from Latin provocativus.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. provocative, challenging: that provokes (provocar) anger or irritation, or seeks to: Su discurso fue deliberadamente provocativo.^[2][15][1]
2. That excites desire, especially sexual desire; seductive.^[2][16]
3. (Canary Islands) Causing a feeling close to nausea (náusea) by improper behaviour.^[17]

Related words

• provocar
• provocador
• provocación
• provocante
• Latin prōvocātīvus
• Portuguese provocativo
• Catalan provocatiu

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. provocativo
3. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 990
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 845
5. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. voz
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. provocativus
7. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. provocatiu
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. provocativo
9. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. provocativo
10. ^ a b c d 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. provocativo
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 417
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 711
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. 875
14. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1433
15. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. provocativo
16. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. provocativo
17. ^ a b Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. provocativo