vertebral

Forms

vertebral m or f (masculine and feminine plural vertebrales)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish vértebra + -al.^[2][3][4] Terreros gave New Latin vertebralis and French vertébral as its equivalents.^[5] The noun, recorded from 1739, is taken from Latin vertebra (“joint; vertebra”), properly the joint on which a bone turns.^[3][4] The Latin noun is formed from vertō (“to turn”) with an instrumental suffix -bra.^[6][1]

The same adjective is Catalan vertebral and Italian vertebrale.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terreros records vertebral as an anatomical adjective, “belonging to the vertebrae”, and as a noun for a branch of the aorta.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Academy took it into its dictionary in 1843, defined as “belonging to the vertebrae”.^[7] Domínguez listed the anatomical phrases columna vertebral, conducto vertebral and agujero vertebral.^[8] In the CDH the word appears from about 1858, mostly in columna vertebral “spinal column”.^[9] Medical Spanish also uses it as a noun for the vertebral artery and vein.^[10] In Puerto Rico it is used figuratively for upright, honest.^[11]

Timeline

• 1786–1793 – Terreros records the adjective and the noun for a branch of the aorta.^[5]
• 1843 – first in the Academy's dictionary.^[7]
• 1846–1847 – Domínguez lists columna vertebral and other phrases.^[8]
• c. 1858 – the first record in the CDH, in a Colombian novel.^[9]
• 1892 – the first record in Boyd-Bowman's lexicon of the Americas, in Costa Rica.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (anatomy) vertebral: of or relating to the vertebrae (vértebras).^[13][1][14]
2. (medicine) Spinal, raquídeo.^[10]
3. (Puerto Rico, figurative) Upright, honest, principled.^[11]

Noun

1. (medicine, feminine) The vertebral artery or vein.^[10]

Word family

• columna vertebral

Related words

• vértebra
• vertebrado
• Latin vertebra

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 696
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. verter
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. verter
5. ^ a b c 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, 786
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. vertebra
7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 740
8. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1724
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. vertebral
10. ^ a b c Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. vertebral
11. ^ a b Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. vertebral
12. ^ 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. vertebral
13. ^ 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. vertebral
14. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vertebral