relicario

Forms

relicario m (plural relicarios)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish reliquia + -ario, first as inherited from Old Spanish reliquiario (Berceo and later texts), later simplified by dissimilation.^[2][3][4] The Spanish Wiktionary derives it instead from Late Latin reliquiarium.^[5]

The base noun is taken from Latin reliquiae (“remains, remnants”), from reliquus (“remaining”), from relinquō (“to leave behind”).^[2][3] Related words are Catalan reliquiari, French reliquaire, Italian reliquiario and Portuguese relicário.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest datable records in the CDH are receipts: in 1427 se pesó el rrelicario de plata dorado “the silver-gilt reliquary was weighed”, made by a silversmith, and in 1431 a panel and reliquary were made for the church of Toledo to hold certain relics.^[7] A poem in the Cancionero de Juan Fernández de Íxar and the Cancioneros of Paris greets the Virgin as santo relicario “holy reliquary”, full of the bread that feeds the world.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Percyvall glossed it in 1591 as “a relicke boxe”, and Covarrubias in 1611 as the place where relics are kept.^[8][9] Autoridades distinguished the place, the case or mounting of metal or other material, and, by metaphor, a convent whose members lead an exemplary life, quoting Ambrosio de Morales.^[10] Domínguez remarked that some reliquaries are not precious at all.^[11]

In the Americas it came to mean a medallion (medallón) or locket: Alemany records this for Colombia, Santamaría a locket for hair and a small bag of relics worn round the neck, and DAMER a medallion hung from the neck in Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Uruguay, obsolescent in Costa Rica.^[12][13][14] In Chile any small box or bag with relics is so called, and figuratively a fine object.^[15] Moliner gives the locket holding a keepsake, such as a lock of hair, for Spain too.^[16] In Honduras it is popularly a criminal's list of offences, and in Leonese a slovenly woman or a useless thing.^[14][17]

Timeline

• 1427 – a receipt records a silver-gilt rrelicario.^[7]
• c. 1430 – Pedro de Corral's Crónica sarracina: a marquis swears by a reliquary he carries.^[7]
• 1547 – the first record from the Americas, in Yucatán.^[18]
• 1574 – Ambrosio de Morales, the first record Corominas knew.^[2][3]
• 1591 – Percyvall: “a relicke boxe”.^[8]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines the place where relics are kept.^[9]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades adds the metaphorical sense of an exemplary convent.^[10]
• 1917 – Alemany records the sense “medallion” in Colombia.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A place where relics are kept.^[19]
2. A reliquary: a box or case, usually precious, for keeping relics: El museo expone un relicario de plata del siglo XV.^[19][1]
3. A locket or medallion, usually worn round the neck, holding a keepsake such as a lock of hair or a portrait: Guardaba un mechón de su madre en el relicario.^[16][20][14]
4. (Honduras, popular) A criminal's record of offences.^[14]

Related words

• reliquia
• relicto
• Latin reliquiae

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 440
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. reliquia
4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. relicario
5. ^ a b Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
6. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 654
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. relicario
8. ^ a b Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 203
9. ^ 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. 1255
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 559
11. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1491
12. ^ a b Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1438
13. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Porrúa, p. 930
14. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. relicario
15. ^ Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 66
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. relicario
17. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. relicario
18. ^ 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. relicario
19. ^ 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. relicario
20. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. relicario