socio

Forms

socio m (plural socios, feminine socia, feminine plural socias)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin socius (“companion, partner”).^[2][3][4][1] Corominas doubts that the word was in general use in the 15th century: Alfonso de Palencia does not give it when he defines the Latin noun, Nebrija and Covarrubias lack it, and it is missing from the vocabulary of the Quijote and of Góngora, although Oudin records it and Autoridades lists it without examples.^[2]

The Latin noun is attested from an archaic inscription on, and goes back to Proto-Italic *sokjo- and Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-(h₂)-i-o- (“companion”).^[5] Its closest cognates are Old English secg (“man, warrior”) and Old Norse seggr, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaz.^[5][1] Wiktionary traces it to the root *sekʷ- (“to follow”), and the OLD compares sequor (“to follow”).^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records the DCECH and the BDELC give are in the Marqués de Santillana (about 1440) and in Alfonso de Palencia, who glosses a Latin word por socio o compañero “as partner or companion”.^[2][3] The Old Spanish Textual Archive has two earlier occurrences, in two texts dated 1376.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades gives it only as a synonym of compañero “companion”.^[8] Corominas notes that in Spanish its use came to be confined almost entirely to commerce and to the members of a society or club who pay dues.^[2] The DLE also names the socio capitalista, who puts money into a firm, and the socio industrial, who contributes only work or skill.^[4]

In colloquial use it means “mate, pal”, and it is a familiar form of address in the Dominican Republic; in Puerto Rico it means a close friend and confidant.^[9][10][11] In Mexico it can name someone who is in love with the same person as another.^[12] The Latin derivative sociedad had entered Spanish long before, with Berceo, while social was taken from French in the late 18th century.^[2]

Timeline

• 1376 – two occurrences in the Old Spanish Textual Archive.^[7]
• c. 1440 – the Marqués de Santillana uses it.^[2][3]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines it as “companion”, without quotations.^[8][2]
• 1778 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[13]
• 1817 – the derivative social enters the Academy's dictionary.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A partner: a person associated with others for some purpose, especially in business: Abrió la tienda con dos socios.^[4][1][9]
2. A member of a society, club or association: Los socios del club votan cada año.^[4][1]
3. (colloquial) A friend or companion; mate, pal.^[9][1]
4. (Dominican Republic) A familiar form of address.^[10]
5. (Mexico) Someone who is in love with the same person as another; a rival in love.^[12]

Related words

• asociar
• sociable
• social
• sociedad
• Latin socius

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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, 286
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. socio
4. ^ 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. socio
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 133
9. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. socio
10. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. socio
11. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. socio
12. ^ 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. socio
13. ^ 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. socio