socorro

Forms

socorro m (plural socorros)^[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Spanish socorrer (“to help, to relieve”).^[2][3][4] Corominas treats it with the verb under correr.^[5][6] The verb continues Latin succurrō (“to run to the aid of”), formed from sub- and currō (“to run”).^[7][8][1] The Latin verb first meant “to run under”, and its usual classical sense was “to hasten to help”.^[9][8]

The DCECH dates the verb 1323 and finds the noun in the second part of Alfonso X's General estoria, where the usual word, as in the Primera crónica general, is still acorrer.^[5] The BDELC dates the noun about 1440.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Judizios de las estrellas (1254–1260), an astrological work of Alfonso X's court: uerna a aquella uilla socorro que la defendra “help will come to that town, which will defend it”.^[10][11] DEMel lists the phrase venir en socorro “to come to help” in the Fuero de Plasencia, which it dates 1221 and which the CDH dates about 1300.^[12][10]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word had a military sense: in a text of 1293 Castilians and Leonese come en socorro “to the rescue”.^[10] Autoridades gives the act of helping, the prompt help given to someone in need or danger, and a part of a salary paid in advance.^[13] In war it named the soldiers sent to a threatened garrison, or the food and ammunition it lacked.^[13] The Academy's dictionary of 1817 records the phrase el socorro de España for help that arrives too late.^[14]

In the slang of thieves (germanía) socorro meant theft, a stolen thing, and the money a prostitute gave her pimp.^[15][16][17] In Chilean farms it was the advance on wages paid to workers between paydays, and in Bolivia it is the travel allowance of a soldier or civil servant.^[18][19] The cry ¡socorro! asks for help in danger, like ¡auxilio!.^[20][21]

Timeline

• 1254–1260 – the Judizios de las estrellas, the first record.^[10]
• c. 1275 – Alfonso X's General estoria, part II, the DCECH's first record.^[5]
• c. 1440 – the BDELC's first date.^[6]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija glosses it with Latin suppetiae and subsidium.^[22]
• 1524 – first record in the Americas, in Tierra Firme.^[23]
• 1609 – Hidalgo's glossary of thieves' slang gives socorro “theft”.^[16]
• 1817 – the Academy's dictionary records el socorro de España.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. help, aid: the act of helping someone in danger or need: Los vecinos acudieron en su socorro.^[15][1][21]
2. relief: money, food or other things given to help.^[15][1]
3. (military) Troops sent to help others; reinforcements.^[15]
4. (military) Supplies of food or ammunition taken to troops or to a place in need.^[15]
5. (germanía) Theft; a stolen thing; what a prostitute gave her pimp.^[15]
6. (Bolivia) Money paid to a soldier or civil servant to cover travel costs.^[19]

Interjection

1. ¡socorro! “help!”, a cry for help in danger.^[1][20][21]

Word family

• socorrismo
• socorrista

Related words

• socorrer
• correr
• sucursal
• auxilio

Usage notes

De socorro is said of a baptism given by any Christian in an emergency, and agua de socorro is that baptism.^[15] Casa de socorro is a first-aid post, and a socorrista a lifeguard or first-aider.^[20][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. socorro
3. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 6442
4. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. socorro
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 208
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. correr
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. succurrō
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. succurro
10. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. socorro
11. ^ 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. socorro
12. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. socorro
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 134
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 809
15. ^ a b c d e f g 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. socorro
16. ^ a b Hidalgo, Juan (1609), Romances de germanía de varios autores, con el vocabulario por la orden del a.b.c. para declaración de sus términos y lengua, Barcelona: Sebastián de Cormellas (ed. Madrid 1779), p. 199
17. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1527
18. ^ Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 302
19. ^ 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. socorro
20. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. socorro
21. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. socorro
22. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 417
23. ^ 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. socorro