refrán

Forms

refrán m (plural refranes)^[1]

Etymology

Corominas considers it borrowed from Old Occitan refranh (“refrain of a song”), a noun from refranher (“to hold back; to modulate”), itself from franher (“to break”), from Latin frangō (“to break”).^[2][3][4] The DLE and Wiktionary derive it instead from French refrain.^[5][1] Corominas adds that the French word and Catalan refrany “proverb” came from Occitan as well, and that Basque errep(a)in (“refrain”) of Gipuzkoa is another loan from it.^[2] García de Diego and Gómez de Silva go back from the Occitan verb to Vulgar Latin *refrangere, a remodelling of refringō (“to break open”).^[6][7][8]

The word first meant “refrain”: the refrains of many songs were proverbs.^[2][3] From them it took the sense “proverb”, which had earlier been expressed by Old Spanish fablilla, fazaña or enxemplo.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is in Juan Manuel's Libro de las armas (after 1335, in a copy of about 1400), where it is still the refrain of a song: fizieron vn cantar de que me non acuerdo sinon del refran “they made a song of which I remember only the refrain”.^[9] Corominas has the word from the beginning of the 14th century, after O'Kane, and says Cotarelo found the sense “refrain” as early as the 13th.^[2] The Cortes of Briviesca of 1387 already have the sense “saying”: el rrefran que se dize en Castilla “the saying that is said in Castile”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

By the 15th century the sense “proverb” was the usual one: the collection Refranes que dizen las viejas tras el huego is of the mid-15th century, and Nebrija gives Latin proverbium and deverbium as its equivalents.^[2][10] The old sense “refrain” passed to estribillo, and Bénaben notes that Spanish now says estribillo for a refrain.^[4] The Academy's 1884 dictionary was the first to give the French etymology, with the phrase tener refranes para todo “to have an excuse for everything”.^[11]

Timeline

• After 1335 – Juan Manuel uses it for the refrain of a song (in a copy of about 1400).^[9]
• 1387 – the Cortes of Briviesca, the earliest hit without a later copy, in the sense “saying”.^[9]
• Mid-15th century – the BDELC's date, with the Refranes que dizen las viejas tras el huego.^[3][2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija glosses it proverbium, deverbium.^[2][10]
• 1546 – the first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy derives it from French refrain.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A proverb or saying: a short, pithy popular saying in common use, often with rhyme or rhythm: Como dice el refrán, no hay mal que por bien no venga.^[5][13][1]

Word family

• refranero

Related words

• frangir
• fracción
• Catalan refrany

Usage notes

Tener muchos refranes or tener refranes para todo is a colloquial phrase for someone who always finds an excuse or a way out.^[5][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 939
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. refrán
4. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. refrán
5. ^ 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. refrán
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5532
7. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 599
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. refrain
9. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. refrán
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. refrán
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 911
12. ^ 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. refrán
13. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. refrán