utensilio

Forms

utensilio m (plural utensilios)^[1] Records from the Americas spell it utencilio, uttincilio and ustensilio.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ūtēnsilia (“utensils, necessaries”), the neuter plural of the adjective ūtēnsilis (“that can be used”), taken as a singular noun.^[3][4][5][1] García de Diego calls it a learned word.^[6] The Latin adjective comes from ūtor (“to use”).^[7][1] Wiktionary suggests that its ending was taken over from other adjectives of the same shape.^[1]

By metathesis the plural became Vulgar Latin *ūsetilia, the source of Old French ostil, now French outil (“tool”).^[3][4] The same form gave Catalan ostilla (“tool; household goods”), Old Aragonese ostillas and Galician ostillas (“tools, gear”), and Basque ostillamendu (“household goods”).^[3][6] Old Spanish occasionally had hostilla for household goods.^[3] The French word later came into Spanish as the noun útil “tool” (1872), which Corominas calls a needless Gallicism; the Academy accepted it in 1884.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Marcos de Isaba's Cuerpo enfermo de la milicia española (before 1593), where the utensilios are the hay, firewood and beds given to soldiers.^[8] In 1640 José Pellicer explains them as water, salt, fire and bed.^[8] Covarrubias's Suplemento (c. 1611) already has the general sense, the sacred utensilios washed in a river.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Corominas finds the word in Oudin's dictionary (1607) and in the Diccionario de Autoridades.^[3][4] The Autoridades (1739) defined it as whatever serves the use and comfort of life, said it was always used in the plural, and called it a recently introduced word; a second entry gave the military sense, the contribution householders made to billeted soldiers.^[9] By 1869 the Academy listed four senses: things for manual and frequent use, the tools of a trade, the help a host owed a billeted soldier (bed, water, salt, vinegar, light and a seat by the fire), and the fuel, oil and beds the army gave soldiers in barracks.^[10] The 1884 edition was the first to give the etymology.^[11] Today the two military senses are rarely used.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1593 – Marcos de Isaba uses utensilios for the supplies given to soldiers.^[8]
• 1607 – Oudin's dictionary records it, Corominas's first date.^[3][4]
• c. 1611 – Covarrubias's Suplemento uses it for sacred vessels.^[8]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades calls it a recently introduced word.^[9]
• 1751 – first record from the Americas, in Bogotá.^[2]
• 1872 – the related Gallicism útil “tool” first appears.^[3][4]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin utensilia.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A man-made object for manual or household use, mostly in the plural: Lavó los utensilios después de cocinar.^[5][12]
2. A tool or instrument of a trade or profession, mostly in the plural.^[5][1]
3. (military, rare) The bed with its linen, the fuel and sometimes the lighting that the army allotted to soldiers in barracks.^[5]
4. (military, rare) The help a householder had to give a billeted soldier: bed, water, salt, vinegar, light and a seat by the fire.^[5][10]

Related words

• útil
• utillaje
• uso
• usar
• French outil

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. ustensilio
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 724
4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. uso
5. ^ 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. utensilio
6. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. utensilia
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. utensilio
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 402
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 776
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 1065
12. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. utensilio