vejación

Forms

vejación f (plural vejaciones)^[1] Old Spanish and Autoridades wrote it vexación or vexacion.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vexātiō (“violent shaking; trouble, torment”).^[4][1] DICCA-XV treats it as a derivative of vejar.^[5] The Latin noun is formed from vexō with the suffix -tiō.^[6][1]

The same Latin word gave Catalan vexació, Portuguese vexação, French vexation and Italian vessazione.^[7][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Juan Fernández de Heredia's Aragonese translation of Orosius (1376–1396): the present miseries torment de muyt mayor vexacion et pena “with much greater vexation and pain”.^[2] Other early records come from Aragon as well, among them Ferrer Sayol's translation of Palladius (1380–1385), where twisting a vine shoot causes the buried part grant trabajo & vexaçion “great hardship and stress”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Corominas and the Breve diccionario date the word in Castilian from about 1440, in Santillana.^[9][10] In the Americas it is recorded from 1531 in Mexico City, in complaints of ill-treatment.^[11] Autoridades defined it as ill-treatment, or the persecution that forces someone to suffer.^[3] The Academy has since defined it simply as the act and effect of vejar.^[12][4] Today it is mostly humiliating treatment.^[13]

Timeline

• 1376–1396 – Fernández de Heredia's translation of Orosius has vexacion.^[2]
• 1391 – an ordinance for Zaragoza speaks of justice obtained sin vexacion de missiones “without the burden of expenses”.^[2]
• c. 1440 – the date the Breve diccionario gives, after Santillana.^[10][9]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin uexatio as aquel fatigar.^[5]
• 1531 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City.^[11]
• 1739 – Autoridades enters vexación.^[3]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary has the phrase redimir la vejación.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or effect of vejar: ill-treatment, harassment or humiliation inflicted on someone: Los presos denunciaron las vejaciones que sufrían.^[4][1][13]

Related words

• vejar
• vejamen
• Latin vexātiō

Usage notes

The phrase redimir la vejación means to accept a sacrifice that harms one's interests or person in order to avoid a greater harm.^[4][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. vejación
3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 470
4. ^ 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. vejación
5. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. vejación
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. vexació
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. vexação
9. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 757
10. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vejar
11. ^ 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. vejación
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 1007
13. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. vejación