subvertir

Forms

subvertir (first-person singular present subvierto, first-person singular preterite subvertí, past participle subvertido)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin subvertō (“to turn upside down, overthrow”).^[2][3][1] The Latin verb is formed sub- and vertō (“to turn”).^[4][1] The simple verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”).^[1]

The earliest texts have the form subverter, with the Latin infinitive ending: Juan de Mena rhymes it with words in ⟨-er⟩ in 1444.^[2][5] The form in ⟨-ertir⟩ is recorded from the early 18th century, in the Diccionario de Autoridades.^[2][6] The DCECH treats it under verter, the inherited verb from the same Latin word.^[2] The Latin verb also gave Catalan subvertir, French subvertir, Italian sovvertire and Portuguese subverter.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first reliable record is Enrique de Villena's translation and glosses of the Aeneid (1427–1428, in a copy of 1442), where no one should think that mighty fortune cannot subverter “overthrow” them.^[5] Juan de Mena's Laberinto de fortuna (1444) asks what his hands can build if Greek might could subverter the walls that Phoebus laid.^[2][5] The earliest sense is concrete: to overthrow buildings or cities.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish used the verb for the ruin of walls, cities and countries, as in Sánchez de Arévalo's Suma de la política (1454–1457), where all Greece would be vencida and subvertida “conquered and overthrown”.^[5] Alfonso de Palencia (1490) explains Latin abrogare as to deny or subuertir a law.^[5] The Diccionario de Autoridades defined it as “to destroy, demolish, ruin or upset something”, quoting a medical text where a disorder can upset the rhythm of the heart.^[6]

In the 19th century the moral and political sense came to the fore: Domínguez speaks of subverting order, peace and social calm, and of inciting rebellion with revolutionary speech or writing, and the Academy added in 1869 that it was used mostly in a moral sense.^[8][9] Today the DLE defines it as upsetting or altering something, especially the established order.^[3]

Timeline

• 1427–1428 – the form subverter in Enrique de Villena's glosses of the Aeneid (copy of 1442).^[5]
• 1444 – Juan de Mena's Laberinto de fortuna rhymes subverter with words in -er; the first record known to Corominas.^[2][5]
• 1453–1467 – the form subuertir in Alfonso de Toledo's Invencionario.^[5]
• 1639 – first record in the Americas, in Peru.^[10]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records subvertir.^[6]
• 1869 – the Academy notes that it is used mostly in a moral sense.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To subvert, upset or alter (alterar) something, especially the established order: Los rebeldes querían subvertir el régimen.^[3][11]

Related words

• subversión
• subversivo
• verter
• convertir
• pervertir
• Latin subvertō

Usage notes

Subvertir is conjugated like sentir: subvierto, subvirtió.^[11][1] Román noted the old preterite subjunctive subvertiera in Quevedo and considered it obsolete.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 791
3. ^ 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. subvertir
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. subvertir
6. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 172
7. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 745
8. ^ 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, 1591
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 726
10. ^ 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. subvertir
11. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. subvertir
12. ^ 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. 342