socorrer

Forms

socorrer (first-person singular present socorro, first-person singular preterite socorrí, past participle socorrido)^[1] Old Spanish texts also write soccorrer and ssocorrer.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin succurrō (“to run under; to run to help”).^[4][5][6][1] The Latin verb is formed from sub- (“under”) and currō (“to run”), and in Latin it already meant “to come to someone's aid”.^[7][8] The DCECH treats it under correr, of which it is the prefixed form.^[4]

The same verb is Portuguese socorrer, Galician socorrer, Catalan socórrer, Occitan socórrer, French secourir and Italian soccorrere.^[9][10][1] The French verb was refashioned after courir from earlier Old French sucurre and secorre.^[11] The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kr̥s-e/o- (“to run”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is dated 1208, a Romance version of the decrees of the Cortes de León, but its text is a later translation of the Latin original.^[3] The first reliable record is the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250), where the ransom of captives is at stake: non se podrien socorrer los catiuos.^[3] DEMel finds socorriere in the Fuero de Plasencia of 1221.^[2] The DCECH and the BDELC, without these texts, give 1323 as the first date.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Alfonso X's Partidas it is to help someone in need, the Christian who is starving.^[13] In the 13th century the more usual verb was acorrer, and the DCECH notes that the General estoria and the Primera crónica general prefer it.^[4] Covarrubias in 1611 held that only help given in haste deserved the name of socorro.^[14] The 1726 Autoridades added the sense of paying part of a debt in advance and the phrase socorrer la plaza, to bring men or supplies into a besieged town.^[15] The pronominal sense “to take refuge”, in the Academy's dictionary from 1843, is now marked obsolete.^[16][6] In Guatemala the verb is used for “to hit someone”.^[17]

Timeline

• 1218–1250 – socorrer in the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes, of ransoming captives.^[3]
• 1221 – socorriere in the Fuero de Plasencia.^[2]
• 1256–1263 – Alfonso X's Primera Partida uses it of helping the hungry.^[3][13]
• 1323 – the first date in the DCECH and the BDELC.^[4][5]
• c. 1440 – the noun socorro is first recorded, according to the BDELC.^[5]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin succurro and suppetias fero.^[18]
• 1525 – the first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[19]
• 1726 – Autoridades records the sense of advancing part of a payment.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To help or succour someone in danger or need: Los vecinos socorrieron a los heridos del accidente.^[6][20][1]
2. (transitive, rare) To pay someone part of what is owed to them, or of what they will earn, in advance.^[6][1]
3. (pronominal, obsolete) To take refuge.^[6]
4. (Guatemala) To hit someone.^[17]

Word family

• socorro
• socorrido
• socorredor

Related words

• correr
• acorrer
• sucursal
• Latin succurrō
• French secourir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. socorrer
3. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. socorrer
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 208
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. correr
6. ^ 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. socorrer
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 651
9. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. socórrer
10. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 3129
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. secourir
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b 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. socorrer
14. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1304
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 133
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 673
17. ^ 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. socorrer
18. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 417
19. ^ 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. socorrer
20. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. socorrer