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troncón

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word troncón

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1376–1396 Juan Fernández de Heredia, Historia troyana More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origin
Latin truncus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin truncus
French tronc
Italian tronco
Spanish tronco
Spanish troncón
From the same root
Latin truncō ← truncus

Forms

troncón m (plural troncones)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish tronco + -ón, with the augmentative suffix.[2][3][4] tronco continues Latin truncus (“lopped, stripped of branches; trunk”).[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record of the word in the CDH is in Juan Fernández de Heredia's Historia troyana (1376–1396), describing a tree made of gold whose uergas et troncon “branches and trunk” were of gold.[5] Corominas dates the word only from the 16th century.[2][3] The CDH hits of 1309–1312 are the surname Troncones, not the word.[5]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named a thick trunk or a large piece of one: Autoridades defines it as a very thick tree trunk, quoting a verse translation of the Aeneid in which robles, cepas, y troncones are hurled.[6] In the Americas it is recorded from 1541, in Michoacán, for the stump of a tree with its roots.[7] In Salamanca it is the base of a trunk with its roots, or the stump of a felled tree.[8] The modern dictionaries give the same two senses: the trunk of a human or animal body, and the stump of a tree.[1][4]

Timeline

  • 1376–1396 – Juan Fernández de Heredia's Historia troyana uses troncon for the trunk of a golden tree.[5]
  • 15th century – a Castilian sermon collection explains the troncón as the part between root and top.[5]
  • 16th century – Corominas's date.[2][3]
  • 1541 – first record in the Americas, in Michoacán.[7]
  • 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines it as a very thick tree trunk.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The tronco of a human or animal body, the trunk or torso.[1][4]
  2. The stump of a tree (tocón, tronca).[1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. troncón
  2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. tronco
  3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 661
  4. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. troncón
  5. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. troncón
  6. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 368
  7. ^ 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. troncón
  8. ^ Lamano y Beneite, José de (1915), El dialecto vulgar salmantino, Salamanca: Tipografía Popular, p. 650
Cite this entry

“Troncón.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/tronc%C3%B3n. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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