sinuoso

Forms

sinuoso (feminine sinuosa, masculine plural sinuosos, feminine plural sinuosas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sinuōsus (“full of bends, winding”).^[2][1][3] The Latin adjective is formed from sinus (“curve, fold, bosom”) and the suffix -ōsus.^[4][5] The DCECH lists it among the learned words beside seno, the inherited descendant of the same Latin noun.^[3]

The same Latin word is Catalan sinuós, Portuguese sinuoso, French sinueux and Italian sinuoso.^[6][7][8][9] French borrowed it in 1539, first as a medical word for a narrow, deep and winding ulcer.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boyd-Bowman's first record is from the New Kingdom of Granada in 1588, where velas sinuosas are sails swelling into curves.^[10] The DCECH gives Góngora as its first author, and the Diccionario de Autoridades quotes his panegyric to the Duke of Lerma, where a sinuosa vela, a billowing sail, hides the day from the Thames.^[3][11] Segura dates the word to the beginning of the 17th century.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades defined it as twisted or full of folds, and Terreros as winding, turning now one way and now another.^[11][13] American texts use it for mines in 1792 and for a river in 1845.^[10] The current dictionary has a figurative sense too, said of an action that hides its aim;^[2][14] Moliner applies it to a way of acting or speaking that uses indirect, often reprehensible means.^[2][14] French sinueux acquired the same figurative sense, recorded there in 1898.^[8]

Timeline

• 1588 – velas sinuosas in the New Kingdom of Granada.^[10]
• early 17th century – Góngora uses it in his panegyric to the Duke of Lerma.^[3][11][12]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it and gives the Latin source.^[11]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros gives French sinueux and Italian sinuoso as equivalents.^[13]
• 1845 – a river in Chile is described as poco sinuoso.^[10]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from Latin.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. winding, sinuous: having curves, bends or turns: El sendero sube sinuoso entre los pinos.^[2][14]
2. (figurative) Of an action or a person: devious, hiding its true purpose.^[2][14]

Word family

• sinuosidad

Related words

• seno
• insinuar
• Latin sinus
• French sinueux

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. sinuoso
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 205
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. sinuōsus
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. sinuoso
6. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. sinuós
7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. sinuoso
8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. sinueux
9. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 345
10. ^ a b c d 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. sinuoso
11. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 120
12. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. s.v. sinuosus
13. ^ a b 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, 501
14. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. sinuoso
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 979