resto

Forms

resto m (plural restos)^[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Spanish restar (“to remain; to subtract”).^[2][3][4] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of the verb, which Spanish took from Latin restō (“to stay behind, resist, remain”), a compound of re- and stō (“to stand”).^[5][1] The simple verb is also the source of estar.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's oldest clear record of the noun is in the Libro del cavallero Cifar of the early 14th century, known only from a late 15th-century copy, where the best revenge on an enemy is to eat him up so that no quede dél resto ninguno “not a scrap of him is left”.^[7] Juan de Mena's Laberinto de Fortuna (1444) speaks of the departure of the resto troyano, the Trojan survivors, and Alfonso de Palencia in 1459 of those who chose to spend el resto de sus días in the country.^[7] The Breve diccionario dates the word only to 1574, and DICCA-XV to 1479.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

In Spanish America the word was used for the balance of a sum from 1525, in Mexico City.^[9] The 1726 Autoridades gives the sense “what remains of a whole”, the stake a player sets apart in games of envite, and an old sense “banishment, confinement” in a chronicle of John II.^[10] The Academy's dictionary of 1817 records echar el resto, literally to stake all one has on the table and figuratively to make every possible effort, and that of 1843 adds the sense of the player who returns the ball and the place he does it from in the game of pelota.^[11][12] The 1884 edition adds the mathematical sense and restos mortales “mortal remains”.^[13]

Baralt in 1855 condemned as French uses such as el resto for “the other things” (lo demás) and los restos de la mesa for the leftovers of a meal; both are now standard, and the Academy lists leftovers among the senses.^[14][2] In Mexico and the River Plate it also means the strength to carry on.^[15]

Timeline

• 1444 – Juan de Mena writes of the resto troyano.^[7]
• 1459 – Alfonso de Palencia uses el resto de sus días.^[7]
• 1525 – the first record in the Americas, for the balance of a sum, in Mexico City.^[9]
• 1574 – the first record according to the Breve diccionario.^[5]
• 1726 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the sense in card games and an old sense “banishment”.^[10]
• 1817 – the Academy's dictionary records echar el resto.^[11]
• 1855 – Baralt condemns some uses of the word as Gallicisms.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the mathematical sense and restos mortales.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. The rest, the remainder: the part that is left of a whole: Pasó el resto de la tarde leyendo.^[2][1]
2. (mathematics) The result of a subtraction; the remainder of a division.^[2][1]
3. In gambling games, the sum a player sets aside for staking.^[2][16]
4. (sports) In pelota, tennis and other games, the return of the serve, the place it is made from, and the player who makes it.^[2][16]
5. (chemistry) A radical.^[2]
6. (in the plural) Leftovers of a meal; remains, ruins or traces, as in restos arqueológicos;^[2][16][17] restos mortales “mortal remains”.^[2][16][17]
7. (Mexico, River Plate) Strength or ability to keep going.^[15]

Related words

• restar
• restante
• resta
• arresto
• Latin restō

Usage notes

Echar el resto means to stake everything and, figuratively, to do one's utmost.^[12][16] Wikcionario also records resto as a clipping of restaurante, a word of a separate source.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. resto
3. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. restar
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 776
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. resto
8. ^ 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. resto
9. ^ 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. resto
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 600
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 759
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 634
13. ^ 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. 928
14. ^ a b Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 615
15. ^ 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. resto
16. ^ a b c d e Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. resto
17. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. resto
18. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org