vencer

Forms

vencer (first-person singular present venzo, first-person singular preterite vencí, past participle vencido)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vincō (“to conquer, overcome”), through Old Spanish vencer.^[2][3][4][1] Corominas notes that it has been in general use at every period and that it is common to all the Romance languages.^[2] The same verb is Romanian învinge, Italian vincere, French vaincre, Catalan vèncer and Portuguese vencer.^[5]

Wiktionary traces the Latin verb to Proto-Italic *winkō, a present with a nasal infix, Proto-Indo-European *wi-n-k-, from the root *weyk- (“to overcome”), which also gave Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (weihan, “to fight”).^[1] De Vaan gives the root the meaning “to bend, tie”, and takes the sense “to overcome” to have grown out of “to tie in”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) uses it of battle: si venciéremos la batalla, creçremos en rictad “if we win the battle, we shall grow in wealth”.^[7] In the same poem the passive meant “to be declared a traitor” in a judicial duel.^[8][2] The first record that survives in a contemporary manuscript is in the Cortes of León of 1208.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish used the verb in war and in the law: besides “to defeat”, it meant “to declare guilty”, as in the Cid and in Berceo's Milagros.^[2] Alfonso X's prose already has the senses “to overpower” (of passions and temptations) and “to prevail, excel”, and the infinitive used as a noun, el vencer “victory”.^[9] Covarrubias names the defeat of enemies, the overcoming of difficulties and winning at play, and Autoridades gives the extended sense in which sleep, pain or passion overcomes a person.^[10][11]

The intransitive sense “to fall due” (of a term, debt or obligation) is in the Academy's dictionary from 1817, and among the Romance languages it is peculiar to Spanish.^[2][5] Bénaben explains it by the image of the creditor as the victor and the debtor as the vanquished.^[12] Proverbs such as divide y vencerás “divide and rule” are among its set phrases.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses it of winning a battle and of the loser of a judicial duel.^[7][8]
• 1208 – the Cortes of León, the earliest record in a contemporary text.^[7]
• 1220–1250 – the derivative vencedor “victor” appears, with Berceo.^[3][2]
• 1259 – an Alfonsine text uses el vencer as a noun.^[9]
• c. 1280 – the derivative vencimiento appears in the Primera Crónica General.^[2][3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin vinco, supero and evinco.^[13]
• 1529 – first record from the Americas, in Nicaragua, in the legal phrase vencidos por derecho.^[14]
• 1611 – Covarrubias derives it from Latin vinco.^[10]
• 1817 – the Academy records the sense “to fall due”.^[2]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin etymon.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To defeat, subdue or conquer an enemy: Los sitiados vencieron a las tropas del rey.^[4][1]
2. (transitive, also pronominal) Of a physical or moral force, to overcome someone: Al final le venció el cansancio.^[4]
3. (transitive) To surpass or outdo someone in a comparison.^[4]
4. (transitive) To master one's passions and bring them under reason.^[4]
5. (transitive) To overcome difficulties or obstacles: Tuvo que vencer muchos miedos para subir al escenario.^[4]
6. (transitive) Of a thing, to prevail over another.^[4]
7. (transitive) To win someone over to one's opinion or wishes.^[4]
8. (transitive) To bear pain, toil or misfortune with patience.^[4]
9. (transitive) To climb or get over the height or roughness of a place.^[4]
10. (transitive, mostly pronominal) To tilt, bend or make something lean: La balda se venció con el peso de los libros.^[4]
11. (intransitive) Of a term or period, to expire: El plazo vence el viernes.^[4][1]
12. (intransitive) Of a contract, to lapse because its condition or term has been fulfilled.^[4]
13. (intransitive) Of a debt or obligation, to fall due.^[4]
14. (intransitive) To win, to come out the winner in a contest, dispute or lawsuit.^[4][1]

Word family

• vencedor
• vencimiento
• vencida
• vencible
• invencible

Related words

• convencer
• vencido
• victoria
• invicto
• Latin vincō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 768
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vencer
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. vencer
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ 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. vencer
8. ^ a b Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. vencer
9. ^ a b 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. vencer
10. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1376
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 440
12. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. vencer
13. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 429
14. ^ 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. vencer
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 1077