solicitud

Forms

solicitud f (plural solicitudes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sollicitūdō (“anxiety; care”), the quality of being sollicitus (“anxious”).^[2][1][3] The Latin noun is formed from that adjective with the suffix -tūdō, shortened by haplology.^[4][1] DICCA-XV analyses the adjective as a compound of sollus (“whole”) and citus (“set in motion”), the past participle of cieō.^[5]

The same Latin noun is Portuguese solicitude, Catalan sol·licitud and French sollicitude.^[6][7][1] The sense “written application” is a Spanish development of the 19th century, found only in Spanish;^[3][8] Gómez de Silva links it with the verb solicitar “to request”.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEMel's first record is in a version of Seneca's De ira of 1284–1295.^[9] In the CDH the word first appears in Juan Fernández de Heredia's translation of Orosius (1376–1396), meaning “care, diligence”: por la poca solicitud et diligencia “through little care and diligence”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

For centuries the word meant care and diligence, and also anxiety: Autoridades defines it as careful diligence and quotes la solicitud de lo temporal “anxiety for worldly things”, and Terreros in the 1780s also gives “inquietude, disquiet”.^[11][12] Cervantes used it in the Quijote for care and attention, and in the plural for a lover's attentions.^[13]

The document sense is recent: Domínguez gave “memorial or petition” in 1846, and the Academy added “the memorial in which one asks for something” in 1869.^[14][15][3] The Academy's current dictionary puts the act of asking first, then the letter or form in which one asks officially, and the quality of being solícito last.^[2]

Timeline

• 1284–1295 – the first record, in a version of Seneca's De ira.^[9]
• 1376–1396 – Fernández de Heredia's translation of Orosius.^[10]
• 1438 – the date of first record that Corominas gives.^[3]
• 1492 – Nebrija's Latin–Spanish dictionary renders solicitudo as aquel cuidado “that care”.^[5]
• 1541 – the first record from the Americas, in Puebla, spelt soleçitud.^[16]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines it as careful diligence.^[11]
• 1846 – Domínguez records the sense “memorial, petition”.^[14]
• 1869 – the Academy's dictionary adds the sense “written request”.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of asking for something; a request.^[2][1]
2. An application: a letter or form in which something is asked for officially: Envió la solicitud de beca fuera de plazo.^[2][1]
3. solicitude, care: the quality of being solícito, attentive and eager to help.^[2][17]

Related words

• solicitar
• solícito
• Latin sollicitudo
• Portuguese solicitude

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. solicitud
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. solícito
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b 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. solicitud
6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. solicitude
7. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. sol·licitud
8. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. solicitud
9. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. solicitud
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. solicitud
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 142
12. ^ 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, 520
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. s.v. solicitud
14. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1581
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 720
16. ^ 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. solicitud
17. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. solicitud