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viento

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word viento

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
900s Glosas Silenses More words from the 9th century
Inherited from
Latin ventus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁-
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin ventus
French vent
Italian vento
Spanish viento
From the same root
Latin ventōsus ← ventus

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbjento/, [ˈbjẽn̪.t̪o][1]

Forms

viento m (plural vientos)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ventus (“wind”), already viento in the oldest texts.[2][3][4][1] It has been in general use in every period and survives in all the Romance languages: Portuguese vento, Galician vento, Catalan vent, French vent, Italian vento and Romanian vânt.[2][5][6]

De Vaan explains the Latin word as a derivative of the present participle of Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”), *h₂ueh₁-nt-o-, through Proto-Italic *wēnto-.[7] Its cognates include Welsh gwynt, Hittite huwant-, Sanskrit वात (vā́ta), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍃 (winds) and Old High German wint.[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the first record to the Glosas Silenses of the late 10th century; in literature the word appears in Berceo.[2][3] The Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200) has the wind that brought the locusts: „Nuestro Sennor Dios aduxo viento de buchorno todo el dia e toda la noch” “the Lord God brought a hot wind all day and all night”.[8]

Semantic evolution

Secondary senses abound from early on: viento malo “misfortune” is in the Libro de Alexandre.[2] Covarrubias in 1611 described the four cardinal winds and the thirty-two of the sea charts, and explained beber los vientos “to long for something eagerly” from the quick breathing of someone in such distress.[9] Autoridades added the hunting senses, the scent that game leaves and the dogs' sense of smell.[10]

By 1884 the Academy also recorded the bone between a dog's ears and the guy rope that holds something upright.[11] In Colombia and Cuba vientos are the three strings tied to the frame of a kite.[2] In the high Andes viento blanco is a gale that raises the snow near the summits.[2] In the Dominican Republic and Panama viento is popularly a muscular pain.[12] In the Canaries viento calderetero is the south-westerly wind of La Palma, which comes from the Caldera de Taburiente.[13]

Timeline

  • late 900s – first record, in the Glosas Silenses.[2][3]
  • c. 1140 – the derivative ventar appears.[3]
  • c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar has viento de buchorno.[8]
  • c. 1223 – the Semejanza del mundo, the earliest text in the CDH that survives in a contemporary copy, has the plural vientos.[8]
  • 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario mentions the north winds.[14]
  • 1519 – first record of vendaval, from French vent d'aval.[3]
  • 1611 – Covarrubias explains beber los vientos.[9]
  • 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the hunting senses.[10]
  • 1884 – the Academy's dictionary records the guy rope and gives the etymology ventus.[11]
  • 1929 – viento calderetero in a newspaper of La Palma.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. wind: a current of air in the atmosphere produced by natural causes such as differences of pressure or temperature: Esta tarde sopla un viento frío del norte.[4][1]
  2. (hunting) The scent that game leaves behind as a trail.[4][10]
  3. (hunting) The sense of smell of certain animals.[4]
  4. A bone that dogs have between the ears.[4][11]
  5. Something that stirs the mind violently or changeably.[4]
  6. Vanity and boastfulness.[4]
  7. A long rope or wire tied to something to hold it upright or move it safely to one side; a guy rope.[4][1]
  8. (colloquial) Wind, intestinal gas.[4]
  9. (nautical) A course or bearing.[4]
  10. (military) The gap left between a ball and the bore of a cannon.[4]
  11. (music) The wind section of an orchestra; also in the plural.[4][1]
  12. (Dominican Republic, Panama) Muscular pain.[12]

Word family

  • ventada
  • ventarrón
  • ventear
  • ventiscar
  • ventoso
  • aventar
  • ventolera
  • cortavientos
  • ventisquero

Usage notes

The DLE has a second viento, from Latin vendĭtus “sold”, used only in the phrase alcabala del viento;[15][16] García de Diego explains it as the sales tax paid by outsiders on what they sold.[15][16] Set phrases include contra viento y marea “against all odds” and a los cuatro vientos “to all quarters”.[1][17]

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 Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 806
  3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. viento
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. viento
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ventus
  6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 7085
  7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. viento
  9. ^ 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. 1387
  10. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 483
  11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 1088
  12. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. viento
  13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. viento
  14. ^ 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. viento
  15. ^ 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. viento2
  16. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 7068
  17. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. viento

Related etymologies

  • agua · also from Latin
  • cazar · also from Latin
  • fuego · also from Latin
  • romper · also from Latin
  • hora · also from Latin
  • más · also from Latin
  • tarde · also from Latin
  • calma · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Viento.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/viento. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·