sabroso

Forms

sabroso (feminine sabrosa, masculine plural sabrosos, feminine plural sabrosas, superlative sabrosísimo)^[1] Old Spanish also had the full form saboroso (Juan Ruiz, the Poema de Alfonso XI), of which sabroso is the contracted form.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin sapōrōsus (“tasty”), from sapor (“taste, flavour”).^[2][4][1][5] Corominas and Segura Munguía describe the word as a contraction of the older saboroso.^[3][6]

The same adjective is Portuguese saboroso, Galician saboroso, Catalan saborós, Italian saporoso and French savoureux.^[6][7] The Latin noun is formed from sapiō (“to taste of, have a flavour”), the verb that gave saber.^[8][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas finds the contracted form first in Berceo, and his Breve diccionario dates it 1220–1250;^[9] DEMel's first dated records are in Berceo's Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos (c. 1230).^[2][3][9] In Alfonso X's Lapidario (1250–1279) it is the taste of water, una fuente de agua dulce muy sabrosa, and also the pleasantness of a feeling.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish already used the adjective for food and drink and, figuratively, for what delights the mind.^[10] Nebrija translates sabroso manjar as Latin sapidus.^[2] Autoridades (1739) gives the sense “seasoned and pleasing to the taste” with quotations from Cervantes, and the figurative “delightful” as a transferred use.^[11] The Academy's 1884 edition also has the colloquial sense “slightly salty”.^[12]

In the Caribbean and elsewhere in Latin America the word means “entertaining, pleasant”, and is used of music or dancing with a lively rhythm; in Mexico and Cuba it also describes someone who lives comfortably at others' expense, also called sabrosón.^[13][2] As an adverb it means “very pleasantly” in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Venezuela.^[13][14]

Timeline

• c. 1230 – Berceo's Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos uses sabroso; the Breve diccionario dates the word 1220–1250.^[9][3][2]
• 1250–1279 – the Lapidario of Alfonso X uses it for taste and for pleasure.^[10]
• 14th century – the full form saboroso in Juan Ruiz and the Poema de Alfonso XI.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin sapidus for sabroso manjar.^[2]
• 1568 – first record in the Americas, in Guatemala, of pleasing words.^[15]
• 1739 – Autoridades defines the literal and figurative senses.^[11]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary records the colloquial sense “slightly salty”.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. tasty, delicious: well seasoned and pleasant to the taste: Nos sirvieron un guiso muy sabroso.^[4][1]
2. Delightful, pleasing to the mind; substantial or juicy (of a story or remark).^[4][16]
3. (colloquial) Slightly salty (salado).^[4][16]
4. (colloquial, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela) Entertaining, enjoyable.^[4][13]
5. (colloquial, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela) Of music, laughter or dancing: rhythmic and lively.^[4][13]

Word family

• sabrosura
• sabrosón

Related words

• saber
• sabor
• desabrido
• Latin sapor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 111
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. saber
4. ^ 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. sabroso
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
6. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. sabroso
10. ^ 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. sabroso
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 6
12. ^ 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. 948
13. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer
14. ^ Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org
15. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos