recóndito

Forms

recóndito (feminine recóndita, masculine plural recónditos, feminine plural recónditas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin reconditus (“hidden away, secret”), the past participle of recondō (“to put away, hide”).^[2][3][1] Corominas dates it to the 17th century, from Lope de Vega, and treats it under esconder, which continues another compound of the same simple verb.^[4][3]

The Latin verb is formed from re- and condō (“to put in, store”), itself from con- and the verb -dō (“to put”).^[5][1][6] The Latin word was also borrowed as the English word recondite.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is in Lope de Vega, in the 17th century.^[4][3] The first records from the Americas, from Guatemala in 1711 and 1716, speak of what is recóndito to human knowledge, that is hidden or obscure.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word was used of abstruse doctrines and of hidden qualities in medicinal herbs.^[8] The Academy entered it in 1817 as “very hidden, reserved and concealed”, the definition the DLE still gives.^[9][2] Moliner distinguishes the physical sense, remote and out of the way, from the figurative one, the most intimate part of the mind or heart.^[10]

Timeline

• 1600s – first recorded in Lope de Vega.^[4][3]
• 1711 – the first record from the Americas, in Guatemala.^[8]
• 1817 – first in the Academy's dictionary.^[9]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin reconditus.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Deeply hidden, secret, concealed: un rincón recóndito del jardín.^[2][1]
2. Remote, out of the way; of the mind or feelings, most intimate: en lo más recóndito de su memoria.^[10][12]

Related words

• esconder
• Latin reconditus

Usage notes

It is often used with the neuter article in the phrase lo más recóndito de “the innermost part of”.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. recóndito
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. esconder
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 704
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 596
7. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 190
8. ^ a b c 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. recóndito
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 736
10. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. recóndito
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 906
12. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. recóndito