transferir

Forms

transferir (first-person singular present transfiero, first-person singular preterite transferí, past participle transferido)^[1] The earliest record has the form trasferir, which Wiktionary still lists as a variant and the Academy preferred in 1817 and 1843.^[2][1][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin trānsferō (“to carry across, transfer”), with a change of conjugation.^[5][1][6] The Latin verb is formed from trāns- (“across”) and ferō (“to carry”).^[7][8] The simple verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry”).^[1]

The same Latin verb gave Spanish, through its participle trānslātus, the noun traslado and the verb trasladar, both recorded earlier than this verb.^[5][6] Vox puts it in the family of preferir.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alfonso X's General estoria (1272–1275) has the form trasfirien “they moved” in the account of the peoples who scattered after Babel and wandered de tierra en tierra “from land to land”.^[2][10] Corominas's first record is in Alfonso de Palencia (1490).^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

In 15th-century Aragonese documents the verb already meant to make over a right to someone: an ordinance for Zaragoza of 1414 has transferimos en el comun de la dita Ciudat.^[11] Autoridades gives the senses “to move from one place to another”, “to cede a right or ownership”, much used in law, and “to put off to another time”.^[12] Terreros in the 1780s adds the bookkeeping sense of moving an entry from one account to another.^[13] The Academy recorded the figurative extension of a word's meaning and the fencing senses by 1869, and the transfer of bank funds in its 2001 edition.^[14][15] Alemany's dictionary of 1917 also gives the sense “to translate”.^[16]

Timeline

• c. 1275 – trasfirien in Alfonso X's General estoria.^[2]
• 1414 – an ordinance of Fernando I for Zaragoza uses it of handing over rights to the city.^[11]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia, the first record according to Corominas.^[6][5]
• 1548 – the first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[17]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades records the senses “move”, “cede” and “postpone”.^[12]
• 1817 – the Academy's dictionary sends transferir to the form trasferir.^[3]
• 1869 – the Academy defines the word under transferir, with the fencing senses.^[14]
• 2001 – the 22nd edition adds the transfer of bank funds.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. To transfer, move something from one place to another.^[18][1]
2. To postpone, put off (diferir).^[18]
3. To cede to another person one's right, ownership or powers over something: Transfirió la empresa a sus hijos.^[18][19]
4. To transfer bank funds from one account to another.^[18]
5. To extend a word's meaning to a figurative sense.^[18]
6. (fencing) To open the angle on the held or lower blade and close it again, ending above it; also other sword movements with the same effect.^[18]

Word family

• transferencia
• transferible

Related words

• traslado
• trasladar
• preferir
• Latin transfero

Usage notes

Transferir is conjugated like sentir or hervir: transfiero, transfirió.^[19][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. transferir
3. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 856
4. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 712
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. transferir
6. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 632
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. transferir
9. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. transferir
10. ^ 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. transferir
11. ^ 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. transferir
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 324
13. ^ 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, 684
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 759
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. transferir
16. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1603
17. ^ 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. transferir
18. ^ a b c d e f 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. transferir
19. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. transferir