supositorio

Forms

supositorio m (plural supositorios)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin suppositōrium (“suppository”).^[2][1] Gómez de Silva explains it as a Medieval Latin medical word, from the Late Latin noun for “something placed underneath”, the neuter of an adjective formed on suppositus, the past participle of suppōnō (“to put under”).^[3] Du Cange quotes the Medieval Latin medical sense from Peter of Blois, beside clyster (“enema”).^[4] The verb is formed sub- and pōnō (“to put, place”).^[1]

The DCECH lists the word among the learned words of the family of poner, beside suponer and suposición.^[5][6] The same Latin word gave French suppositoire and Italian suppositorio.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in the CDH is a medical text, the Tesoro de la medicina or Tesoro de los remedios (1431, in a manuscript of the Colombina in Seville): faganle supositorio .i. xristel “let them give him a suppository, that is, an enema”.^[8][9] Other 15th-century medical texts pair it with tristel “enema”, as the Spanish Guy de Chauliac (1498) does.^[8] Corominas dated it from the Diccionario de Autoridades (1739).^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The Diccionario de Autoridades treated it as a doctors' synonym of cala, quoting Palacios's Palestra pharmaceutica on shaping a medicine in the form of a cala or supositorio.^[10] The Academy referred it to cala until the 19th century.^[11][12] Domínguez gave a description of its own: any solid medicine in the shape of a cone that is introduced into the rectum.^[13] The DLE now defines it as a solid medicine introduced into the rectum that melts with the heat of the body;^[14][15] Moliner and Vox add the vagina and the urethra.^[2][14][15]

Timeline

• 1431 – the Tesoro de la medicina, the first record in the CDH.^[8]
• a. 1450 – the Arte complida de cirugía.^[8]
• 1495 – the Spanish translations of Bernard of Gordon's medical works.^[8]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades, the first record known to Corominas.^[10][6]
• 1791 – first record in the Americas, in Lima.^[16]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, Latin suppositorium.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) A suppository: a solid medicine introduced into the rectum (recto) that melts with the heat of the body: Al niño le pusieron un supositorio para la fiebre.^[2][14][1]

Related words

• suponer
• suposición
• cala
• Latin suppōnō

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. supositorio
3. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 664
4. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 607
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. poner
7. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 416
8. ^ 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. supositorio
9. ^ Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 189
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 682
12. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1546
13. ^ 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, 1597
14. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. supositorio
15. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. supositorio
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. supositorio
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 936