rivera

Forms

rivera f (plural riveras)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *rīvāria, from Latin rīvus (“small stream, brook”), according to Wiktionary.^[1] The DLE says only that it is derived from the Latin noun, and Autoridades took it from the same word, insisting for that reason on spelling it with ⟨v⟩.^[2][3] The Latin noun is also the source of río, recorded from 912.^[4] Barcia, on the other hand, gave the etymology of the word as ribera “bank, shore”.^[5] García de Diego notes that French rivière “river” comes from a different Latin word, Latin rīpāria.^[6]

The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *rīwos and Proto-Indo-European *h₃riH-uo- (“whirling”).^[7][1] De Vaan compares Sanskrit and Russian verbs for flowing and streaming fast, and Ancient Greek ὀρίνω (orī́nō, “to whirl, stir”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit, in the Poema de Fernán González (c. 1250, known from a copy of 1460–1480), places a ryvera near the Guadiana, where the word may mean the river or its bank.^[8] The first record that clearly means a watercourse is the Viaje de Juan de Mandevilla (c. 1400), which tells how a river, la Riuera, was divided into sixty-four Riueras chicas “small rivers”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades (1737) defined rivera as the same as arroyo “stream” and called it a word of Extremadura.^[3] The Academy kept the regional label in 1817 and called it provincial in 1869; its 1884 edition was the first to give the etymology, Latin rivus “brook”.^[9][10][11] The present dictionary has two senses, the small stream itself and the bed it runs in.^[2] In the Americas it is recorded in Lima in 1791.^[12] The word also became a place name and a surname: in 1326 a lord de Cabrera e de Rivera confirms a royal charter.^[8] The Uruguayan department of Rivera is named after Fructuoso and Bernabé Rivera.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – ryvera in the Poema de Fernán González, in a copy of 1460–1480.^[8]
• 1326 – Rivera as the name of a lordship in a charter of Alfonso XI.^[8]
• c. 1400 – Riuera and Riueras chicas in the Viaje de Juan de Mandevilla.^[8]
• 1406–1411 – the surname in Pero Afán de Rivera, in the Crónica de Juan II.^[8]
• 1737 – Autoridades: a word of Extremadura meaning “stream”.^[3]
• 1791 – first record in the Americas, in Lima.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy's first etymology: Latin rivus.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stream or brook: a small, continuous flow of water (arroyo): En verano la rivera apenas lleva agua entre las piedras.^[2][14]
2. The bed (cauce) or channel in which such a stream runs.^[2][15]

Related words

• río
• riachuelo
• Latin rīvus

Usage notes

Domínguez (1846–1847) sent the reader from rivera to ribera, and Barcia treated the two as one word.^[16][5] As a surname, Rivera comes from the common noun.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. rivera
3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 625
4. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. río
5. ^ a b Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 727
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5717
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. rivera
9. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 766
10. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 685
11. ^ 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. 937
12. ^ 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. rivera
13. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
14. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. rivera
15. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. rivera
16. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1518