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respuesta

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word respuesta

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1220–1250 Gonzalo de Berceo More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Latin respondeō

Pronunciation

  • /resˈpwesta/, [resˈpwes.t̪a][1]

Forms

respuesta f (plural respuestas)[1] The dissimilated form repuesta was very frequent from the 14th to the 17th century, in the Zifar, the Conde Lucanor, Saint Teresa and Rojas Zorrilla, and is now rejected by the standard language.[2]

Etymology

It is from Old Spanish respuesto (“answered”), the old irregular past participle of responder, in the feminine and used as a noun.[3][2][4] García de Diego starts from Vulgar Latin *respositus, which replaced responsus under the influence of positus (“placed”).[5] Wiktionary likewise explains the form by the influence of puesta, the feminine participle of poner.[1] The participle respuesto “answered” soon went out of use, though Alfonso X's Espéculo still has it.[2]

The verb is respondeō (“to answer”), derived from spondeō (“to pledge”).[2][6] The same formation is Portuguese resposta, Galician resposta, Catalan resposta, Asturian respuesta and Italian risposta.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word to Berceo (1220–1250).[7][2] In the Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos (c. 1236, in a late 13th-century copy) the saint dio respuesta certera “gave a sure answer”.[8] The Poridat de las poridades (c. 1250) is the first text with the word in a contemporary copy.[8] The DTME and the CORDE figures quoted in DICCA-XV give 1196, without naming the text.[9][6]

Semantic evolution

In Alfonso X's prose the word already means an answer to a question, a rejoinder or refutation, and a reply to a letter or message.[10] In law, a suit was començado por respuesta when the defendant answered it; the Academy still listed comenzar por respuesta as an old legal phrase in 1899.[10][11] The Diccionario de Autoridades (1737) added two figurative uses, the report of a harquebus and the echo of mountains, taking the first from Covarrubias.[12]

From the dissimilated repuesta come repostada “a rude, sharp answer” in Colombia, Venezuela, Central America, Mexico and Andalusia, and Aragonese repostero “answering back”.[2] Modern Spanish also uses respuesta for a reaction to a stimulus, in biology and medicine, and for a riposte in fencing.[13][9][3]

Timeline

  • 1220–1250 – the first records, in Berceo.[7][2][8]
  • c. 1250 – the Poridat de las poridades, the first record in a contemporary copy.[8]
  • 1254 – Alfonso X's Judizios de las estrellas uses it for the answer a messenger brings.[10]
  • c. 1399 – the dissimilated repuesta in the translation of Gower's Confessio Amantis.[2]
  • c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin confutatio and refutatio as its equivalents.[14]
  • 1529 – the first record from the Americas, in Nicaragua.[15]
  • 1737 – the Diccionario de Autoridades adds the report of a gun and the echo.[12]
  • 1899 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from respuesto.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An answer or reply to a question, doubt or difficulty: Todavía espero tu respuesta.[3][1]
  2. An answer to someone who calls or knocks at the door.[3]
  3. A rejoinder, refutation or contradiction of what someone says.[3]
  4. A reply to a letter or note.[3]
  5. An action made in return for another's, a response: Su respuesta al insulto fue el silencio.[3][13]
  6. The effect sought by an action, as the reaction of the public to an advertising campaign.[3]
  7. (biology, medicine) The reaction of an organism or tissue to a stimulus, or of the body to a drug.[13][9]
  8. (fencing) A riposte, an attack made after parrying.[3]
  • responder
  • responso
  • corresponder
  • respondón
  • Latin respondeō
  • Portuguese resposta
  • Italian risposta

Usage notes

The phrase dar la callada por respuesta means to answer with silence.[13] Judeo-Spanish has the form repuesta.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 887
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. respuesta
  4. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. respuesta
  5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5638
  6. ^ 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. respuesta
  7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. responder
  8. ^ 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. respuesta
  9. ^ a b c Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. respuesta
  10. ^ 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. respuesta
  11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 869
  12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 598
  13. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. respuesta
  14. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 409
  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. respuesta
  16. ^ Nehama, Joseph (1977), Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol, Madrid: CSIC, p. s.v. repuesta
Cite this entry

“Respuesta.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/respuesta. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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