regalo

Forms

regalo m (plural regalos)^[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Spanish regalar¹, the verb meaning “to entertain, treat”.^[2][3][4] Corominas takes the verb, probably, from French régaler (“to entertain, feast”), which, following Gamillscheg and Wartburg, he derives through the noun régal from Old French gale (“merriment”), of Germanic origin, the family of gala.^[4][3] The DLE derives it from ré- and galer (“to enjoy oneself, make merry”).^[5] The French noun appears from about 1310, at first in the form rigale, and the DHLF sees in its first element the influence of rigoler (“to have fun”).^[6][4] DICCA-XV suggests, with a “perhaps”, Frankish *wallan (“to be agitated”) as the Germanic source.^[7]

Wiktionary notes that the verb is not related to Latin rēgālis (“royal”).^[1] Covarrubias, however, explained the noun as “royal treatment”, and Gómez de Silva links it with real and regir.^[4][8] Corominas warns that the old verb regalar² “to melt”, from Vulgar Latin *recalō, has a separate source, and that lexicographers have often confused the two.^[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is in Alfonso X's Setenario (c. 1252–1270, in an early 14th-century copy): commo ganásemos el rregalo de los çielos “how we might win the delight of heaven”.^[10] El Tostado, between 1440 and 1455, has con grande regalo “with great indulgence” of a father towards his son.^[10][7] Corominas and the BDELC date the noun from Nebrija (c. 1495), who glosses regalo “by caressing” with Latin indulgentia.^[4][3][7]

Semantic evolution

In the Golden Age regalo meant indulgence, delight and comfort: Percyvall in 1591 glosses it “gentle usage, dainties”, and Covarrubias ties regalarse to the delights that kings can have.^[11][4] The sense “present, gift” and the verb “to make a present” are, for Corominas, foreign to that age: they appear in Autoridades in 1737, which put them first, and in literature from about 1800, with Moratín.^[4][3][12] In Argentina obsequio and obsequiar are still the usual words for “present” and “give as a present”.^[4]

The older senses survive: the DLE still lists pleasure, delicate food and drink, and comfort.^[2] Colloquially a regalo is also something very cheap.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1252–1270 – rregalo de los çielos in Alfonso X's Setenario, in an early 14th-century copy.^[10]
• 1440–1455 – El Tostado's Libro de amor e amicicia.^[10][7]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija glosses it with indulgentia: the BDELC's first date.^[3][14]
• 1565 – first record from the Americas, in Yucatán.^[15]
• 1591 – Percyvall glosses it “gentle usage, dainties”.^[11]
• 1737 – Autoridades defines it first as a gift sent voluntarily or by custom.^[12][3]
• 1884 – the Academy derives it from regalar.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gift or present, given freely or by custom: Le trajo un regalo de Japón.^[2][1]
2. A pleasure or delight: Esta música es un regalo para el oído.^[2][13]
3. Delicate, exquisite food or drink.^[2]
4. Comfort, ease and rest that one provides for oneself.^[2]
5. (colloquial) Something very cheap; a bargain.^[13]

Related words

• regalar
• regalón
• obsequio
• gala
• French régal

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. regalo
3. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. regalar
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 837
5. ^ 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. regalar
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d 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. regalo
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 599
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 839
10. ^ 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. regalo
11. ^ a b Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 202
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 542
13. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. regalo
14. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 407
15. ^ 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. regalo
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 912