romano

Forms

romano (feminine romana, masculine plural romanos, feminine plural romanas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin Rōmānus (“of Rome, Roman”).^[2][3][4][1] Bénaben calls it a borrowing from Latin.^[5] The Latin adjective is formed from Rōma (“Rome”) with the suffix -ānus.^[6][1] The city's name is probably of Etruscan origin.^[7]

The same Latin word is Catalan romà and Italian romano.^[8][1] Romanian român “Romanian” continues it too, and Spanish took that word as rumano, a doublet of the inherited adjective.^[9][1] The feminine survives in Portuguese romã (“pomegranate”), from a Latin phrase meaning “Roman apple”.^[10][11][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH's first record is in Berceo, and the BDELC dates it 1220–1250.^[2][3] In Alfonso X's Lapidario (1250–1279) the word already names the people of Rome and, in letras romanas, the Latin script.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The DCECH notes that gato romano, a cat striped with brown and black, is already in Lope de Vega and Cervantes.^[2] The Diccionario de Autoridades records that sense and romanos, large peaches with a red stone, in some regions.^[13] Terreros also used the word for roman type in printing.^[14] Salvá (1846) gave an old sense, a Spaniard as opposed to a Goth, and the Academy in 1869 defined it as the old inhabitants of the empire as opposed to the barbarian invaders.^[15][16] In 1884 the Academy added the Catholic religion and the Latin language as senses.^[17]

Today the noun “Latin” is marked as obsolete.^[4] A la romana describes food fried in a coating of egg and flour.^[18] In Nicaragua and Ecuador a gato romano is a tabby cat, and in the Canary Islands a cabra romana is a goat with honey-coloured spots.^[19][20]

Timeline

• 1220–1250 – first record, in Berceo.^[2][3]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for the Romans and for Latin letters.^[12]
• 1283 – an Alfonsine book of games names a dice game “that the Romans call reencontrat”.^[12]
• 1538 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico, for the papal court.^[21]
• 1737 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the tabby cat and the peach.^[13]
• 1869 – the Academy adds the inhabitants of the empire, as against the barbarians.^[16]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology and the senses “Catholic” and “Latin”.^[17]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or from Rome, the capital of Italy; as a noun, a native of Rome.^[4][1]
2. (historical) Native or inhabitant of the lands of the ancient Roman Empire who held its citizenship; as a noun, a Roman.^[4][1]
3. Relating to Rome, to each of the ancient and modern states of which it was the capital, or to the Romans: el derecho romano.^[4]
4. Relating to Rome as the seat of the pope and the Catholic Church: el rito romano.^[4][1]
5. (Nicaragua, Ecuador) Of a cat: tabby, with grey and black markings.^[19]

Noun

1. (obsolete) Latin (latín), the language.^[4]

Word family

• romanizar
• romanización
• romanista
• romanina
• hispanorromano
• prerromano
• tardorromano

Related words

• romance
• románico
• romántico
• rumano
• Latin Rōmānus

Usage notes

Romana “steelyard” is a separate word in the DCECH and the DECat;^[22] Coromines thinks it most likely comes from a Late Latin name meaning “Roman balance” and rejects a source in the Arabic word for the pomegranate.^[22] García de Diego takes it from the feminine of romano.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 49
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. romano
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. romano
5. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. romano
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. romain
8. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5735
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. romanus
10. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2945
11. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. romã
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. romano
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 635
14. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 390
15. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 961
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 687
17. ^ 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. 940
18. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. romano
19. ^ 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. romano
20. ^ Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. romano
21. ^ 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. romano
22. ^ a b Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 7, 410