revés

Forms

revés m (plural reveses)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin reversus (“turned back”), the past participle of revertor (“to turn back, return”).^{[2][1][3][4][5]} The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and vertō (“to turn”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wert-.^[1][3]

The REW takes the Spanish noun from Catalan revés, and lists revieso “clumsy” as the native outcome of the Latin word.^[6] Corominas rejects a Catalan source, as well as a borrowing from French revers or an adverb Vulgar Latin *reverse proposed by others; he explains the shape of the word, like that of través, by its unstressed use in the phrases al revés de and a través de.^[4] The same Latin participle is Italian rovescio.^[6] The learned reverso, first recorded about 1575, is a doublet.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH's first records are in Juan Ruiz and Juan Manuel; the BDELC dates the word about 1330.^[4][5] DEMel has the phrase al reves “the wrong way round” earlier, in the Gran Conquista de Ultramar of about 1295.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The plural reveses meant “turns” in Juan de Mena.^[4] In the Quijote a revés is a fencing stroke, a diagonal cut from left to right, as opposed to the tajo.^[9] The Academy's dictionary of 1843 lists the back of a thing, a blow with the back of the hand, a stroke in the game of pelota, the fencing stroke, a misfortune, a sudden change in someone's manner, and the phrases el revés de la medalla and al revés.^[10]

By 2001 the Academy also listed the backhand of tennis and similar games, and in Cuba a worm that attacks the tobacco plant.^[11][12] Knitting uses it for the purl stitch.^[1][13] In Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay al revés de la milanesa means “the other way round”.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1295 – al reves in the Gran Conquista de Ultramar.^[8]
• 1330–1343 – Juan Ruiz uses the noun, the DCECH's first record.^[4][5]
• 1492 – Nebrija's Latin–Spanish dictionary glosses perversus as a thing done al reves.^[15]
• 1533 – first record from the Americas, in Peru, of a military setback.^[16]
• c. 1575 – the learned doublet reverso appears.^[7]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary lists the fencing stroke and the sense “misfortune”.^[10]
• 1899 – the Academy derives it from reverso.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. The back or reverse side of something: Escribió la dirección en el revés del sobre.^[2][1]
2. A blow given with the back of the hand, a backhander.^[2][13]
3. In the game of pelota, a stroke made with the hand turned back.^[2]
4. A setback, misfortune: La empresa sufrió un duro revés en bolsa.^[2][1]
5. A sudden change in someone's temper or manner.^[2]
6. (sports) In tennis and similar games, a backhand.^[2][1]
7. (fencing) A diagonal cut made from the side opposite the hand holding the weapon.^[2]
8. (knitting) A purl stitch.^[1][13]
9. (Cuba) A worm that attacks the tobacco plant.^[11][12]

Word family

• vesre
• revesado
• enrevesado

Related words

• reverso
• verter
• través
• Latin reversus

Usage notes

Al revés and del revés mean “the other way round”, “inside out” or “upside down”.^[13][1] El revés de la medalla is someone or something quite unlike another.^[10][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. revés
3. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. revés
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 791
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. verter
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. reversus
7. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 665
8. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. revés
9. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 977
10. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 636
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. revés
12. ^ a b Suárez, Constantino (1921), Vocabulario cubano, La Habana: Librería Cervantes / Madrid: Perlado, Páez y Compañía, p. 454
13. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. revés
14. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. revés
15. ^ 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. revés
16. ^ 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. revés
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 873