reclinar

Forms

reclinar (first-person singular present reclino, first-person singular preterite recliné, past participle reclinado)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin reclīnō (“to lean back, recline”).^[2][3][1] Corominas dates it to the mid-15th century; the CDH has earlier records in the translations of Juan Fernández de Heredia.^[3][4][5] The same Latin verb gave Catalan reclinar, Portuguese reclinar, French récliner and Italian reclinare.^[6][7][8]

The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and a simple verb *clīnō (“to lean”), known only in compounds such as acclīnō.^[9][1] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (“to lean”).^[1] The same simple verb lies behind inclinar and declinar.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fernández de Heredia's translation of Orosius (1376–1396) uses it figuratively, of studies that se reclinan et acuestan “lean back and lie down”, giving up a great work; his Gran crónica de España (1385) has a man overcome by sleep who reclinó su cabeza on his servant's knees.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the phrase reclinar la cabeza spread through devotional prose, in the Gospel saying that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.^[5] Nebrija's Latin dictionary of 1492 explains Latin reclino as to lean backwards.^[10] Autoridades defined the verb as to lean something into a position, especially for rest.^[11] From 1817 the Academy noted its reflexive and intransitive use.^[12] From 1899 it defined it as resting the body or part of it on something.^[13] Moliner and the DLE add leaning one thing against another, as a chair against a wall.^[14][2]

Timeline

• 1376–1396 – the first record, in Fernández de Heredia's translation of Orosius.^[5]
• 1385 – reclinó su cabeza in the Gran crónica de España.^[5]
• Mid-15th century – recorded in Juan de Tallante, the first record Corominas gives.^[3]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin reclino.^[10]
• 1640 – used by Saavedra.^[3]
• 1726–1739 – first in the Academy's dictionary, Autoridades.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To lean (inclinar) something so that it rests on something else, especially the body or a part of it: reclinó la frente sobre el cristal.^[2][14][1]
2. (reflexive, reclinarse) To lean back or recline (recostarse) against something: se reclinó contra el respaldo del banco.^[2][14][1]

Word family

• reclinatorio

Related words

• declinar
• inclinar
• Latin reclino

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. reclinar
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 445
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. inclinar
5. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. reclinar
6. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. reclinar
7. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2850
8. ^ 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. 147
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ 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. reclinar
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 518
12. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 735
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 849
14. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. reclinar