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reparación

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word reparación

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1297 a document of Don Juan Manuel's claims over Elche More words from the 13th century
Borrowed from
Latin reparatio
Ultimate origin
Latin parō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin parō
Spanish parar
English pare
Latin reparō
French réparer
Latin reparātiō
English reparation
Spanish reparación
From the same root
Latin apparō ← parō
Latin imperō ← parō
Latin parābilis ← parō
Latin parātus ← parō
Latin praeparō ← parō
Latin sēparō ← parō
Spanish parada ← parō
Latin reparābilis ← reparō
Latin reparātor ← reparō

Pronunciation

  • /repaɾaˈθjon/, [re.pa.ɾaˈθjõn], /repaɾaˈsjon/[1]

Forms

reparación f (plural reparaciones)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Late Latin reparātiō (“restoration, renewal”).[2][3][1] The Latin noun is formed from the past participle of reparō (“to restore”),[1][4] which is made of re- and parō (“to prepare, provide”).[1] Corominas lists it in the family of parar, beside reparar, reparo and reparador.[2] De Vaan traces this verb to Proto-Indo-European *prh₃-o- (“providing”).[5]

The same Latin word gave Portuguese reparação, Catalan reparació, French réparation and the English word reparation.[6][7][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is a document of 1297 setting out Don Juan Manuel's complaints over Elche, which mentions rents granted to the people of Elche por reparacion de los muros “for the repair of the walls”.[9] Corominas dates the word from Villena in 1433.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century Juan Fernández de Heredia used the word for the rebuilding of towns and, figuratively, for the redemption of mankind and the restoring of a country.[9] A document from Peru of 1550 dates a foundation by the año de nuestra reparación, the year of our redemption.[10] The Diccionario de Autoridades gave only the material sense, renewing or improving a thing.[11] The Academy added in 1884 the sense “amends for an offence” and an old school exercise in which students recited the lesson and argued with one another.[12]

In Nicaragua and Venezuela reparación is a resit, an exam taken after the end of the course in a subject that was failed.[13]

Timeline

  • 1297 – first record in a Castilian document, on the walls of Elche.[9]
  • 1376–1396 – Fernández de Heredia uses it for the restoring of mankind.[9]
  • 1433 – Villena, the DCECH's first record.[2]
  • 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia's vocabulary.[2]
  • c. 1495 – Nebrija glosses it with Latin refectio, reparatio and instauratio.[14]
  • 1550 – first record in the Americas, in Peru.[10]
  • 1884 – the Academy adds the senses “amends” and “school exercise”.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. repair: the act or result of mending something broken or damaged: La reparación del tejado costó más de lo previsto.[3][15][1]
  2. reparation, amends: full satisfaction for an offence, damage or injury.[3][16][1]
  3. (historical) A school exercise in which students recited the lesson and, in some places, argued with one another.[3][16]
  4. (Nicaragua, Venezuela) A resit: an exam taken after the course in a failed subject.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 393
  3. ^ a b c d 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. reparación
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. reparatio
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. reparação
  7. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. reparació
  8. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 539
  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. reparación
  10. ^ 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. reparación
  11. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5
  12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 921
  13. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. reparación
  14. ^ 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. reparación
  15. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. reparación
  16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. reparación

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Reparación.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/reparaci%C3%B3n. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·