rienda

Forms

rienda f (plural riendas)^[1] Old Spanish also wrote ryenda, ryendas.^[2] Renda, a Galician-looking form, occurs in the Poema de Alfonso Onceno;^[3] renda is also Asturian and Galician, and Old Aragonese had renga.^[4][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish rienda, inherited from Vulgar Latin *retĭna (“rein”), a noun made from retineō (“to hold back, restrain”).^[4][5][6][1] The classical word for “rein”, retināculum, comes from the same verb.^[4][6] The REW takes the Vulgar Latin noun as a deverbal of the verb or a back-formation from the classical noun, and hardly as an imperative of the verb.^[7] Wiktionary gives the same two explanations, noting that the classical noun was far more common in the plural, and says the noun is attested in the Glossarium Ansileubi of the 7th–8th century.^[1] The verb is formed from re- (“back”) and teneō (“to hold”).^[8][1]

The same Vulgar Latin noun is Portuguese rédea, Galician renda, Catalan regna, Occitan regna, French rêne and Italian redine; the REW counts it common to all the western Romance languages.^[7][4][3] Wiktionary explains the Spanish form through */ˈrɛd(e)na/, with the voicing of /t/ between vowels and the metathesis of /dn/ to /nd/, as in candado from ⟨cadnado⟩.^[1] The diphthong ⟨ie⟩ comes from the open stressed /ɛ/ that the REW finds in Spanish and Italian.^[7] Covarrubias derived the word from rendir, because the rider “renders” the horse with it, an explanation Autoridades reports from him.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) already has the word in the plain sense: El cavallo priso por la rienda “he took the horse by the rein”, and the riders sueltan las riendas “give the horses their head” as they leave Vivar.^[4][11] The first record in a text without a later copy is the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250).^[11]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “restraint, control” is as old as Berceo, who speaks of keeping the flesh so su rienda “under its rein”; from so rienda “subject” came the sense “of little account, inferior”.^[4] Alfonso X's Estoria de España already has aflojar las riendas “loosen the reins”, said of a king who gave up all restraint.^[12] In the Lapidario “the one who holds the reins” is the constellation Auriga.^[12]

Covarrubias recorded tener rienda en la lengua “to speak with restraint”, ir a rienda suelta “to go unchecked” and volver las riendas “to turn back”, and the Quijote has a rienda suelta and a media rienda.^[9][13] The Academy's dictionary of 1843 gives the plural sense “government, direction” (apoderarse de las riendas del estado).^[14] In Argentina and Uruguay rienda also names the wire that holds a post upright.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses rienda and arrendar “to tie by the reins”.^[4][5]
• 1218–c. 1250 – the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes, the first record without a later copy.^[11]
• c. 1236 – Berceo, Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos: a monastery that went astray como bestia sin rienda.^[11]
• 1270–1284 – the Estoria de España uses aflojar las riendas figuratively.^[12]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin habena for rienda de freno.^[16][4]
• 1512 – first record in the Americas, a Puerto Rico inventory of twelve pairs of reins.^[17]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records tener rienda en la lengua and ir a rienda suelta.^[9]
• 1843 – the Academy gives the plural sense “government, direction”.^[14]
• 1917 – Alemany derives it from Low Latin retina, from retinere.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually in the plural) Each of the two straps, ribbons or cords fixed to the bit (freno) at one end and held at the other by the person guiding a horse; a rein: El jinete sujetaba las riendas con una sola mano.^[6][1]
2. restraint, moderation in what one does or says.^[6]
3. (in the plural) Control, direction of something: Tras la muerte del fundador, su nieta tomó las riendas de la fábrica.^[6][1]
4. (Argentina, Uruguay) A guy wire fixed to the ground and to the top of a post to keep it upright.^[15]

Word family

• arrendar
• rendaje
• sobrerrienda

Related words

• retener
• Latin retineō
• Portuguese rédea

Usage notes

Set phrases include a rienda suelta “unchecked, at full speed”, dar rienda suelta “to give free rein”, aflojar las riendas “to slacken control” and falsa rienda, a spare pair of reins.^[6][1][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. rienda
3. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. *retina
4. ^ 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. 5, 12
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. rienda
6. ^ a b c d e f 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. rienda
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7261
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. retineo
9. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1257
10. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 621
11. ^ 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. rienda
12. ^ 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. rienda
13. ^ 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. 979
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 638
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. rienda
16. ^ 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. rienda
17. ^ 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. rienda
18. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1458
19. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. rienda