subdivisión

Forms

subdivisión f (plural subdivisiones)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin subdīvīsiō (“a subordinate division”).^[2][3] Corominas lists it with subdividir among the derivatives of dividir, without a date.^[4][5] The Spanish Wiktionary treats it as a noun derived from the verb.^[6]

The Latin noun is formed from sub- and dīvīsiō (“division”), and is post-classical, found in the jurist Maecianus, the Code of Justinian and Jerome.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first record is Enrique de Villena's translation and glosses of the Aeneid (1427–1428, in a copy of 1442): after dividing the world into parts, en cada una d'estas partes fizieron subdivisiones “in each of these parts they made subdivisions”, such as Greater and Lesser Asia.^[8] The sense is a further division of a part.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the word belonged to learned prose: medicine (Alfonso Chirino, before 1429; the translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery, 1498) and grammar (the translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, 1494).^[8] In the 16th century it was used in architecture (Diego de Sagredo, 1526) and administration, for the division of provinces in the 1573 ordinances on the description of the Indies.^[8] In the Americas it is recorded from 1755 in Costa Rica, spelled sudivición, of a church with five naves.^[9]

The Academy's dictionary of 1869 defines it as a second division of a thing, or a division of one of its parts; the 1899 edition gave the present definition, “action and effect of subdividing”, with the Latin etymon.^[10][11][2] Moliner and Vox add the part that results and a partition that divides a space, and botany uses it for a rank below the division.^[12][13][14]

Timeline

• 1427–1428 – Enrique de Villena's glosses on the Aeneid (copy of 1442).^[8]
• 1494 – the translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus speaks of the subdivision of adjectives.^[8]
• 1498 – the translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery: subdiuision.^[8]
• 1573 – the ordinances for the description of the Indies use it of provinces.^[8]
• 1755 – the first record from the Americas, in Costa Rica.^[9]
• 1869 – the Academy's dictionary defines it as a second division.^[10]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin etymon.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The action and effect of subdividing: La subdivisión del terreno llevó varios años.^[2][12][1]
2. Each of the parts that result from subdividing something: Cada subdivisión tiene su propio responsable.^[12][13]
3. A partition or other thing that divides a space.^[12][13]
4. (botany) A taxonomic rank of plants below the division, equivalent to the subphylum of animals.^[14][13]

Related words

• subdividir
• división
• dividir
• Latin subdīvīsiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. subdivisión
3. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. dividir
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 322
6. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. subdivisión
9. ^ a b 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. subdivisión
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 725
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 930
12. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. subdivisión
13. ^ a b c d Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. subdivisión
14. ^ a b Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. subdivisión