Etymologically
Log in

remembranza

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Spanish word remembranza

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1200 La fazienda de Ultra Mar, in a 13th-century copy More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin memor

Forms

remembranza f (plural remembranzas)[1] Old Spanish wrote remenbrança, remembrança and rremenbrança, and also remembrancia, remenbrancia and renembrançia.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish remembrar + -anza.[4][5][6] The verb, recorded from 1220–1250, is derived from the older membrar (“to remember”) (c. 1140), which continues Latin memorō (“to recall, mention”), from memor (“mindful”).[5] Wiktionary and García de Diego derive the verb instead from Vulgar Latin *rememorāre, from rememoror (“to recall”).[1][6] Autoridades analysed the noun as the old membranza with the prefix re-.[7]

Related nouns are Asturian renembranza, Old Occitan remembransa, French remembrance and Italian rimembranza.[6][8] The learned form of the Latin verb is rememorar.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first hit in the CDH is La fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy), in God's words to Moses: esta es mi remenbrança de generacion en generacion “this is my memorial from generation to generation”.[3] The BDELC dates the word 1220–1250, and the first hit without a later witness is Herman the German's Psalter (c. 1240–1272): la Tu remembrança no es en muert “in death there is no remembrance of you”.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Berceo used remembrancia for the commemoration of a rite in the Mass, and the Fueros de Aragón of 1247 for the mention of a clause in a marriage contract.[3] In Alfonso X's prose it means memory and commemoration, and poner en remembranza is to commemorate: in 1280 the Romans honoured the goose that had woken them.[9] Nebrija gave Latin commemoratio and monumentum as its equivalents.[10]

Autoridades already called it an old Castilian word, and the Academy's dictionaries marked it as archaic from 1817 to 1899, as did Alemany in 1917.[7][11][12][13] Domínguez noted in 1846 that it was still used in poetry, and Garzón said the same of Argentina in 1910.[14][15] The DLE now gives it without that label as a synonym of recuerdo, and Moliner marks it as literary.[4][16]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – La fazienda de Ultra Mar (in a 13th-century copy) has remenbrança.[3]
  • c. 1240–1272 – Herman the German's Psalter, the first record without a later witness.[3]
  • 1247 – the Fueros de Aragón use it in a legal sense.[3]
  • 1280 – Alfonso X's General estoria has poner en remenbrança “to commemorate”.[9]
  • c. 1495 – Nebrija's Spanish–Latin vocabulary.[10]
  • 1571 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico City.[17]
  • 1726–1739 – Autoridades calls it an old Castilian word.[7]
  • 1817 – the Academy labels it archaic.[11]
  • 1846 – Domínguez notes its use in poetry.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (literary) remembrance, a memory of something past: Guarda aquella carta en remembranza de su abuelo.[4][16][1]
  2. (obsolete) A commemoration.[9]

Usage notes

The phrase en remembranza de “in memory of” is found in Nicaragua in 1856, of a ship named after a battle.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. remembranza
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. remembranza
  4. ^ 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. remembranza
  5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. remembrar
  6. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. rememorare
  7. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 565
  8. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 659
  9. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. remembranza
  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. remembranza
  11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 748
  12. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 860
  13. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1439
  14. ^ a b 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, 1493
  15. ^ Garzón, Tobías (1910), Diccionario argentino, Barcelona: Imprenta Elzeviriana de Borrás y Mestres, p. 429
  16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. remembranza
  17. ^ 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. remembranza
Cite this entry

“Remembranza.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/remembranza. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·