recobrar

Forms

recobrar (first-person singular present recobro, first-person singular preterite recobré, past participle recobrado)^[1] Old Spanish also had recombrar, in the Cid, in passages of Berceo and in 13th-century legal and biblical texts.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish recobrar, inherited from Latin recuperō (“to get back, recover”).^[2][4][5][1] The DCECH and de Vaan derive the Latin verb from the root of capiō (“to take”).^[2][6] Lanchetas compares the change of the Latin word to that of Latin opera into obra.^[3]

The form recombrar of the Cid, beside combrar for the simple verb in a document of Oviedo of 1273, has no settled explanation.^[2] Corominas thinks it was mainly influenced by escombrar (“to clear”), which is also in the Cid, and perhaps by the contrast with asombrado.^[2]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese recobrar, Galician recobrar, Catalan recobrar, Occitan recobrar and Old French recovrer; Italian ricoverare was taken from Occitan.^[7][8] In Catalan it is recorded about 1050, in an oath of Count Guillem I of Besalú.^[8] Spanish drew cobrar from it by back-formation very early (the Cid, Berceo, documents of 1206), and the same short verb is found in Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan and, as an old loan, Basque.^[2][7] The learned doublet recuperar came in about 1607.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, known from a 14th-century copy) has the form reconbrar, of the Moors who try to regain the upper hand: Moros son muchos, ya quieren reconbrar “the Moors are many, now they want to recover”.^[9][2] The Liber Regum (c. 1194–1211) tells como se perdie la tierra e pues como se recobro “how the land was lost and then how it was recovered”.^[9][10] The Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250) is the first text not known only from a later copy: El querelloso pendre et recobre su debda “let the plaintiff take pledges and recover his debt”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Corominas notes that the meaning of the verb has stayed essentially the same from Latin to the present.^[2] Alfonso X's prose already used it for regaining what was lost, such as the grace of God recovered by penance, for recovering from harm, for coming round after an illness, and once for remembering.^[11] Nebrija left it out of his Spanish–Latin vocabulary, as he did many verbs in re- beside the simple verb, but Alonso de Palencia glossed Latin recuperare as recobrar y recibir lo que estava perdido.^[2]

Covarrubias in 1611 defined it as getting back what had gone out of one's power.^[12] The Autoridades derived it from re- and cobrar and noted that it was also said of things not material, such as honour and health.^[13] In 1843 the Academy added the reflexive senses: to recover from harm, to recoup one's losses, and to come to oneself after fainting or an illness.^[14] The first records from the Americas are from Nuevo León in 1690 and Venezuela in 1723, both for recovering one's strength or from a fright.^[15] Moliner adds retaking a stronghold in war.^[16]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has reconbrar (in a 14th-century copy).^[9][2]
• c. 1194–1211 – the Liber Regum uses se recobró of the recovery of the land.^[9][10]
• 1218–c. 1250 – the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes has recobre su debda.^[9]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo writes recobrar, the BDELC's date of first record.^[4][2]
• 1272–1275 – the General Estoria uses recombró of Jacob recovering from illness.^[11]
• 1591 – Percyvall translates it “to recover”, Latin recuperare.^[17]
• 1607 – the learned doublet recuperar is recorded.^[4]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines the verb.^[12]
• 1690 – the first record in the Americas, in Nuevo León.^[15]
• 1726–1739 – the Autoridades records its use of honour and health.^[13]
• 1737 – the noun recobro is first recorded.^[4]
• 1843 – the Academy adds the reflexive senses.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To recover or regain something one had or owned before: Tardó meses en recobrar la vista.^[5][1]
2. (reflexive) To recover from harm one has suffered.^[5][1]
3. (reflexive) To make up for a loss; to recoup oneself (desquitarse).^[5]
4. (reflexive) To come to oneself after fainting or a strong emotion, or to get over an accident or illness: Se recobró enseguida del desmayo.^[5][16]

Word family

• recobramiento
• recobro
• cobrar

Related words

• recuperar
• Latin recuperō
• Portuguese recobrar

Usage notes

In the reflexive the thing one recovers from takes de: recobrarse de la enfermedad.^[18][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 825
3. ^ a b Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. s.v. recobrar
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. recobrar
5. ^ 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. recobrar
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7136
8. ^ a b Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 7, 176
9. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. recobrar
10. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. recobrar
11. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. recobrar
12. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1250
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 519
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 616
15. ^ 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. recobrar
16. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. recobrar
17. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. s.v. recobrar
18. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1425