refinar

Forms

refinar (first-person singular present refino, first-person singular preterite refiné, past participle refinado)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish re- + fino + -ar.^[2][3][4] Corominas lists it, with refino and refinamiento, among the derivatives of fino.^[5][6] The Academy's dictionaries of 1884 and 1899 derived the verb from that adjective, and Covarrubias in 1611 explained it from Latin re- and fīnis (“end”).^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Canarian historical dictionary has the verb in the notarial records of Tenerife from 1509, for the boiling of sugar several times to make it purer and whiter: a sugar refiner was to be paid one arroba of every ten que refinare “that he refines”.^[9] Corominas dated it to Aldana (died 1578) and to Covarrubias.^[5] By the middle of the 16th century Guevara also speaks of refining cloth.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Covarrubias defined refinar as giving something its final finish and perfection, and cited the refino cloth of Segovia.^[8] The Autoridades (1737) gave the sense “to bring something to the perfection it should have”, with a quotation in which God refines his own in their trust and love.^[3] In 1817 the Academy put first the material sense, to make metals or saltpetre finer and purer by separating the dross, and kept the moral one as figurative.^[11]

The DLE now has three senses: to purify a substance, to perfect something for a purpose, and, reflexively, to become more refined in speech, manners and taste.^[12] In Argentina and Uruguay the verb is used of crossing animals with a breed of higher quality, and in Mexico and Panama it is vulgar for “to eat”.^[13]

Timeline

• 1509 – the refining of sugar in Tenerife.^[9]
• 1521–1543 – Guevara writes of refining cloth.^[10]
• 1583 – açufre refinado “refined sulphur” in Mexico City, the first record from the Americas.^[14]
• 1591 – Percyvall glosses it “to refine”.^[15]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it and records refino.^[8][5]
• 1737 – the Autoridades explains it from re and fino.^[3]
• 1817 – the Academy adds the refining of metals and saltpetre.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To refine or purify a substance by removing the dregs and impurities: refinar petróleo.^[12][16][1]
2. (transitive) To perfect something, adapting it to a purpose; to polish.^[12][16]
3. (reflexive) To become more refined in one's speech, manners and taste.^[12]
4. (Argentina, Uruguay) To improve livestock by crossing it with a better breed.^[13]
5. (Mexico, Panama, vulgar) To eat.^[13]

Word family

• refinado
• refinamiento
• refinería
• refinador
• refinación
• refino

Related words

• fino
• afinar
• fin

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 598
3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 536
4. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1431
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 901
6. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. fino
7. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 910
8. ^ 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. 1251
9. ^ a b 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. refinar
10. ^ 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. refinar
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 740
12. ^ 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. refinar
13. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. refinar
14. ^ 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. refinar
15. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 202
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. refinar