velludo

Forms

velludo (feminine velluda, masculine plural velludos, feminine plural velludas)^[1]

Etymology

The adjective is formed from Spanish vello (“body hair, down”) + -udo.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary instead derives it from Late Latin villūtus (“hairy”), a word attested in a 7th-century gloss.^[1] The noun “velvet, plush” has a separate source: it was first Old Spanish vellud, borrowed from Catalan vellut, short for Old Catalan drap vellut (“hairy cloth”), and was later replaced by the form of the adjective.^[5][2][6] Prat Sabater counts it among the Catalan loanwords of the textile trade.^[7]

The Late Latin adjective is formed from villus (“shaggy hair”) with the suffix -ūtus, and gave French velu and Italian velluto.^[1][8] The DHLF calls it an alteration of villōsus (“hairy”).^[8] Portuguese veludo “velvet” came through Catalan and Spanish according to Nascentes.^[9] The OLD takes the Latin noun as probably a dialect form of vellus (“fleece”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record of the adjective, “having much hair”, is from the 15th century, in a medieval Spanish Bible at Genesis 25:25.^[5][2] DICCA-XV puts its own first record in 1420 and cites a CORDE record of 1396.^[6] The noun appears as vellud in the mid-15th century, in the poet Carvajales, and as velludo only at the end of the 16th.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija about 1495 gave Latin villosus for velludo de mucho vello.^[6] Autoridades recorded both senses, the adjective with Quevedo's Gigantón vellúdo and the noun “plush or velvet” with the almohadas de velludo of the Quijote.^[11] Terreros added its use in botany, of downy fruit, leaves and flowers.^[12] Moliner notes that, said of people, it is somewhat pejorative.^[13]

Timeline

• 1400s – first record of the adjective, in a medieval Spanish Bible.^[5][2]
• mid-15th century – the noun vellud “velvet” in Carvajales.^[5][2]
• 1591 – Percyvall glosses it “shag-haired”.^[14]
• 1650 – first record from the Americas, a cap of belludo in Michoacán.^[15]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the adjective and the noun.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. hairy, having much body hair (vello): Tenía los brazos velludos y morenos.^[16][1]

Noun

1. plush or velvet.^[16][1]

Word family

• velludillo

Related words

• vello
• velloso
• vellón
• Latin villus
• Catalan vellut

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vello
3. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. velludo
4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 7176
5. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 761
6. ^ a b c 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. velludo
7. ^ Prat Sabater, Marta (2003), Préstamos del catalán en el léxico español, doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, p. 51
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. velu
9. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. veludo
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. villus
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 437
12. ^ 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, 766
13. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. velludo
14. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 229
15. ^ 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. velludo
16. ^ a b 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. velludo