regreso

Forms

regreso m (plural regresos)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin regressus (“return”), a learned word.^[2][3][1][4] It is formed from Latin regredior (“to go back”) + -tus, and the verb is formed from Latin re- + gradior (“to step, walk”).^[1][5] De Vaan derives gradior from a stem with Celtic cognates, from Proto-Indo-European *g(h)rd(h)-.^[6]

Medieval charters took over the word from a legal formula of earlier Latin deeds.^[7] The verb regresar is derived from the noun.^[8][2] Portuguese regresso is also learned.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest Spanish records in the CDH are deeds of sale and exchange from 1276 on, where yeso e regreso (also regresso) stands in the list of rights that go with a property, the right of way out and back in; the Latin formula exitu et regressu appears in a deed of 1237.^[7] The DEMel's first records are charters of the Carrizo monastery of 1280 and 1284.^[11]

Semantic evolution

From the 16th century the word was a term of canon law: the BDELC dates this use to 1537, and records from Mexico in 1547 and Santo Domingo in 1548 speak of a regreso to an office and of a share of a priory's income.^[2][12] The Academy in 1817 still listed, beside “return to the place one left”, the legal right to recover what had been alienated and the cession of a benefice to another.^[13] Corominas dates the general sense “return” to 1726.^[2] By 1899 the Academy reduced the entry to “the action of returning”.^[14]

The verb regresar was first recorded in canon law in 1537, but entered the Academy's dictionary in its general sense only in 1884.^[2] In the Americas the verb is also transitive, “to give back”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1237 – a Latin deed has exitu et regressu.^[7]
• 1276 – a Spanish deed of sale has yeso e regreso.^[7]
• 1280 – a charter of Carrizo has regreso.^[11]
• 1537 – first record as a term of canon law.^[2]
• 1547 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[12]
• 1726 – first record in the sense “return”, according to Corominas.^[2]
• 1817 – the Academy lists “return” and three legal senses.^[13]
• 1899 – the Academy gives the etymology and the single sense “action of returning”.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of returning; a return: El regreso a casa se hizo largo.^[3][15][1]
2. (law, historical) The cession of a benefice to another; the right to recover what had been alienated.^[13][16]

Word family

• regresar
• regresivo

Related words

• agredir
• Latin regressus
• Portuguese regresso

Usage notes

De regreso means “on the way back” or “back”.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. regreso
3. ^ a b 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. regreso
4. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. regreso
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 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. regreso
8. ^ a b 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. regresar
9. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. regresso
10. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. regresso
11. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. regreso
12. ^ 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. regreso
13. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 744
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 857
15. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. regreso
16. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1435