secar

Forms

secar (first-person singular present seco, first-person singular preterite sequé, past participle secado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish secar, inherited from Latin siccō (“to dry”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb was made from the adjective siccus (“dry”), which Spanish continues as seco, so that the verb now reads as that adjective with the verb ending -ar.^[5][1][6]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese secar, Galician secar, Catalan secar, Occitan secar, French sécher, Italian seccare and Romanian seca.^[7][8][1]

The Latin adjective probably goes back to Proto-Italic *siskʷos and to Proto-Indo-European *siskus (“dry”), perhaps built on a root *sek- (“to dry up”).^[1][9] De Vaan compares Old Irish sesc (“dry, barren”) and Ancient Greek ἰσχνός (iskhnós, “dry, lean”), but notes that such a form would normally have given a Latin form with ⟨sc⟩, so the phonetic details remain unclear.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in a Spanish text is in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (1200–1250), with the forms secarsa and se secavan.^[10] Corominas dates the verb 1220–1250.^[3] In Alfonso X's Lapidario (1250–1279) a stone that is ground, kneaded with water and left secar al sol “to dry in the sun” becomes very hard.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The prose of Alfonso X already uses the verb for drawing the moisture out of something, for using up the juices of a body (salt dries meat and keeps it from rotting), for a river running dry in the hot season and for vines withering.^[11] Covarrubias in 1611 adds that a tree that dies se seca, and uses secarse figuratively for growing cold towards someone.^[12] In the Quijote the hero's brain dries up (se le secó el celebro), a metaphor Cejador traces to Huarte.^[13]

The Academy's dictionary of 1843 lists the reflexive senses of rivers and plants, “to be bored”, “to waste away” (of an animal) and “to be very thirsty”.^[14] Modern dictionaries add the sense of wiping a surface dry with a cloth and of a wound closing.^[4] In sport secar means to mark an opponent so closely that he can do nothing.^[15] In Argentina and Uruguay it also means to leave someone without money, especially at gambling, and in Uruguay to bring bad luck.^[16][4] In the Canaries, León and Asturias a cow or goat se seca when it stops giving milk.^[17][18]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar has secarsa and se secavan.^[10]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for drying in the sun and for a river running dry.^[11]
• 1276–1279 – an Alfonsine text uses it for vines withering.^[11]
• 1513 – Nebrija gives Latin sicco, exicco and arefacio as its equivalents.^[19]
• 1564 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico: maize picked before it dries.^[20]
• 1611 – Covarrubias derives it from the Latin verb and records the figurative secarse with someone.^[12]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades notes its spelling change qu before e (sequé).^[21]
• 1843 – the Academy lists the senses “to be bored” and “to be very thirsty”.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology “Del lat. siccare”.^[22]

Meanings

Verb

1. To dry: to take the moisture out of something wet, or let it evaporate, by air or heat; also reflexive: Pusieron los pimientos a secar al sol.^[4][1]
2. To wipe dry: to remove the liquid or drops from a surface with a cloth or towel; also reflexive: Se secó la cara con la manga.^[4]
3. To heal or close a wound or sore; also reflexive.^[4][23]
4. To use up the fluids of a body; also reflexive.^[4]
5. To annoy or bore; also reflexive.^[4]
6. (Uruguay, colloquial) To jinx, bring bad luck (gafar).^[4][16]
7. (Uruguay, colloquial) To spoil an expected success by praising it in advance.^[4]
8. (reflexive) Of a river, spring or the like: to run dry.^[4][1]
9. (reflexive) Of a plant: to wither, lose its green and its vigour.^[4]
10. (reflexive) Of a person or animal: to grow thin and wasted.^[4]
11. (reflexive) To be very thirsty.^[4]
12. (reflexive) Of the heart or spirit: to grow numb, lose feeling.^[4]
13. (sport) To mark an opposing player so closely that he is neutralised.^[15]
14. (Argentina, Uruguay) To leave someone without money, especially by beating him at gambling.^[16]

Word family

• resecar
• secadero
• secado
• secador
• secadora
• secamanos
• secamiento
• secante
• secaplatos
• secarropas

Related words

• desecar
• ensecar
• seco
• sequía
• secano
• Latin siccus
• Portuguese secar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 185
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. seco
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. secar
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. secar
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. siccare
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. secar
11. ^ a b c d 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. secar
12. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1290
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. 1014
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 658
15. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. secar
16. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. secar
17. ^ Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. secar
18. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. secar
19. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 414
20. ^ 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. secar
21. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 58
22. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 962
23. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. secar