vigoroso

Forms

vigoroso (feminine vigorosa, masculine plural vigorosos, feminine plural vigorosas)^[1]

Etymology

According to the Academy it is borrowed from Medieval Latin vigorōsus, an adjective recorded by Du Cange.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary and Wikcionario analyse it instead as formed in Spanish, from Spanish vigor + -oso.^[1][5] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of vigor, which was taken from Latin vigor (“vigour, activity”) and is recorded from the Cid.^[6][7]

The Latin noun is a derivative of vigeō (“to be active, flourish”), of the same root as vigil (“awake, watchful”) and vigilō (“to stay awake”), the source of velar and vigilar.^[8][6] De Vaan relates the verb to vegeō and to an adjective meaning “active, alive, awake”.^[8] Wiktionary gives a possible root Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be lively”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates vigoroso to the second quarter of the 15th century, in Fernán Pérez de Guzmán.^[7][6] The Old Spanish Textual Archive has it in a manuscript of the Castilian Libro del tesoro of Brunetto Latini, of c. 1426–1450, and in seven more texts before 1533.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the sense “having strength and vigour”, of the body and of actions alike.^[2][10] Percyvall in 1591 gave fortis and the English “strong, robust” for it.^[11] Covarrubias did not include it;^[6][10] Autoridades defined it as having strength, efficacy and vigour, quoting a chronicle where a man recovers “vigorous of strength and brave of heart”.^[6][10] Terreros added the senses “able to work” and “gallant, brave”.^[12] Today it is said of people, animals and plants as well as of a style, an argument or an economic trend.^[13]

Timeline

• 1425–1450 – first record, in Fernán Pérez de Guzmán.^[7][6]
• c. 1426–1450 – a manuscript of the Castilian Libro del tesoro uses the word.^[9]
• 1552 – first record from the Americas, in Guatemala, of “vigorous arms”, spelt biguroso.^[14]
• 1591 – Percyvall's Spanish–English dictionary.^[11]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it.^[10]
• 1884 – the Academy gives Latin vigorosus as its etymon.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. vigorous; having vigor, strength or energy: Plantaron un roble joven y vigoroso.^[2][16][1]
2. Forceful, effective: said of an action, a style or an argument.^[10][13]

Related words

• vigente
• vigilar
• velar
• Latin vigor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. vigoroso
3. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. vigoroso
4. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre, p. 8, 328c
5. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 757
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vigor
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org
10. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 486
11. ^ a b Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 230
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, 799
13. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. vigoroso
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. vigoroso
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. 1090
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vigoroso