risa

Forms

risa f (plural risas)^[1] Old Spanish had the masculine riso, used by Berceo and Juan Ruiz, before the feminine risa took over in the 15th century.^[2][3] Medieval texts also spell the word rrisa and rysa.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rīsus (“laughter”), the noun of rīdeō (“to laugh”).^[2][3][6] The older Spanish form was the masculine Old Spanish riso, first recorded about 1220–1250, and the feminine form appears only in the 15th century; the Academy's dictionary derives the modern word from the masculine.^[3][2][7] Wiktionary instead takes it from rīsa, the neuter plural of the participle, and also allows a change of gender from the noun.^[1]

The Latin noun survives in the other Romance languages: Portuguese riso, Catalan ris, French ris and Italian riso, and the masculine form is still used in Aragon and Murcia.^[8][2]

De Vaan finds no convincing Indo-European etymology for the Latin verb and rejects the old comparison with Sanskrit व्रीडते (vrīḍate, “is shy”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hits, from charters of 1241–1244, are the nickname of a man, Martin Risa, not the noun.^[5] The first clear record is a prose translation of the life of Saint Mary of Egypt, of about 1350, in which the narrator's coarse words move her listeners to grand rrisa, “great laughter”.^[5] DEMel lists an earlier rrisa in the Segundo Adriano, which it dates, with a query, about 1250.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The DCECH dates risa to the 15th century, in a medieval Bible translation and in Alfonso de Palencia's dictionary of 1490.^[2] Nebrija gave it as the Spanish for Latin risus.^[10] Autoridades defined it as the outward sign of inner joy in the mouth and face, and added the sense “what makes one laugh”, as in cosas de risa, and a figurative one for the gentle motion of things that give pleasure.^[11]

The Academy listed set phrases from 1817 on: risa sardónica for a convulsion of the face muscles, caerse de risa and descoyuntarse de risa for laughing uncontrollably.^[12][13] The 1869 edition added la risa del conejo, a forced or deathly grin; today's risa de conejo is a fake laugh.^[14][7] In the Americas the word is first recorded in Paraguay in 1544.^[15] In Argentina and Uruguay jugar risa meant to make light of something or someone.^[16]

Timeline

• 1220–1250 – first record of the older masculine riso.^[3]
• c. 1350 – rrisa in a translation of the life of Saint Mary of Egypt.^[5]
• 15th century – risa in a medieval Bible translation, according to the DCECH.^[2]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia uses the phrase causar desatada risa.^[2]
• 1544 – first record in the Americas, in Paraguay.^[15]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades gives the senses “laughter” and “what makes one laugh”.^[11]
• 1817 – the Academy lists risa sardónica and caerse de risa.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary derives the word from Latin risus.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. laughter, a laugh: the movement of the mouth and face that shows joy: Se le escapó una risa nerviosa.^[7][1]
2. The sound that goes with laughing: Desde la cocina se oían sus risas.^[7][18][1]
3. Something that makes people laugh: Aquella reunión fue una risa.^[7][19]

Word family

• risada
• risotada
• risita

Related words

• reír
• sonrisa
• risueño
• risible
• Latin rīsus
• Portuguese riso

Usage notes

Common set phrases are morirse de risa, partirse de risa and troncharse de risa “to split one's sides laughing”, and tomar a risa “to make light of”.^[1][20] Risa de conejo is a forced or false laugh.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 857
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. reír
4. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. risa
5. ^ 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. risa
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. risa
7. ^ 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. risa
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. rīsus
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. rīdeō
10. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 410
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 624
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 766
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 639
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 685
15. ^ 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. risa
16. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 720
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 936
18. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. risa
19. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. risa
20. ^ 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. 678