quilla

Forms

quilla f (plural quillas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French quille (“keel”).^[2][3][1][4] The French word, recorded from 1382, is Germanic;^[2][4] Corominas finds its exact source in Old Norse kilir, the plural of kjǫlr (“keel”), since a keel was made of several pieces of timber.^[2][4] Wiktionary traces the Old Norse word to Proto-Germanic *keluz.^[1] Goldschmidt saw in the Spanish ⟨ll⟩ the reflex of a Germanic *kilja.^[5]

Older explanations differ: Covarrubias (1611) and the Diccionario de Autoridades derived the word from a Greek word for “hollow, curved”, the Academy in 1884 from Italian chiglia, itself from Old High German kiol, and Alemany (1917) from German Kiel.^[6][7][8][9] Since 2001 the Academy has derived it from French, like Corominas.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in the CDH is in the diary of Columbus's first voyage (1492–1493): the Admiral complains that the caravels were leaking badly por la quilla, through the keel, because the caulkers of Palos had done their work badly.^[11] Corominas dates the word to 1504.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has always been a term of shipbuilding: Covarrubias compared the keel to a man's spine, from which the ribs spring.^[6] Autoridades (1737) and the Academy's later editions define it as the long timber running from stern to bow at the bottom of a ship, on which the whole frame rests.^[7][12] The 1899 edition added the zoological sense, the ridge of a bird's breastbone, by comparison with a ship.^[13] Later came the projecting ridges on the tail of some fishes, and in botany the two lower petals of a pea flower.^[3][14]

In Puerto Rico the word, pronounced quiya, means a vertebra, the spine and the breastbone, and figuratively a very thin person; a thin fighting cock is said to estar en la quilla.^[15][16] In Uruguay it is a ladder in a stocking.^[3][15] Canary Islands Spanish has con la quilla pa'l marisco, said of a failing business or a dying person.^[17]

Timeline

• 1492–1493 – the diary of Columbus's first voyage: the caravels leak through the keel.^[11]
• 1504 – the first record in Corominas.^[2]
• 1535 – first record in the Americas, in Cartagena.^[18]
• 1611 – Covarrubias compares the keel to the human spine.^[6]
• 1737 – the Diccionario de Autoridades enters it as a nautical term.^[7]
• 1899 – the Academy adds the sense “ridge of a bird's breastbone”.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (nautical) keel: the timber or iron piece running from stern to bow along the bottom of a ship, on which its whole frame rests: el astillero colocó la quilla del nuevo pesquero.^[3][1][19]
2. (zoology) The projecting ridge of a bird's breastbone, largest in strong fliers.^[3][14]
3. (zoology) Each of the sharp ridges on the tail of some fishes, such as the mako.^[3]
4. (botany) The keel of a papilionaceous flower, formed by its two lower petals.^[14]
5. (Uruguay) A ladder in a stocking.^[3][15]
6. (Puerto Rico) A vertebra; the spine; the breastbone; figuratively, a very thin person.^[15][16]

Related words

• French quille

Usage notes

Quilla de balance is a bilge keel, and dar de quilla or dar la quilla is to heel a ship over to clean or repair its hull.^[3] A separate word quilla, a masculine noun of Chile meaning “friend”, used only in address, comes from Mapudungun culla.^[20][21]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. quilla
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. quilla
4. ^ a b c Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. quilla
5. ^ Goldschmidt, Moritz (1887), Zur Kritik der altgermanischen Elemente im Spanischen, Bonn: Carl Georgi, p. 43
6. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1242
7. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 470
8. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 889
9. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1401
10. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. quilla
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. quilla
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 722
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 834
14. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. quilla
15. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. quilla
16. ^ 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. quilla 1
17. ^ Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. quilla
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. quilla
19. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. quilla
20. ^ Lenz, Rodolfo (1904–1910), Diccionario etimolójico de las voces chilenas derivadas de lenguas indíjenas americanas, Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Cervantes, p. s.v. quilla
21. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 549