virilidad

Forms

virilidad f (uncountable)^[1] Old Spanish also wrote uirilidat and virilidat.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin virīlitās (“manhood”), from virīlis (“of a man, manly”) with the suffix -tās.^[4][1][5] The adjective is formed from vir (“man”), and gave Spanish viril, among whose derivatives Corominas lists this noun.^[6][7]

The same Latin word gave Portuguese virilidade, Catalan virilitat, French virilité and Italian virilità.^{[8][9][1][10]} Nascentes considers the Portuguese word semi-learned.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is in the astrological Judizios de las estrellas of Alfonso X (1254), where Mars and Venus in the east favour masculinidat and uirilidat in a newborn.^[2] Corominas dates the word to about 1440, in the Marqués de Santillana; the CDH has it a little earlier in El Victorial (1431–1449), where Pero Niño reaches virilidad, “the second age”, at more than twenty-five years.^[6][7][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the word meant both manhood as an age of life and manly strength or courage: Juan de Mena in 1445 praises a duke's virtue and virilidad.^[3] Autoridades defined it as the strength of the manly age, and added a figurative sense, the power or vigour of other things, with a poem on “the virilities of summer”.^[12] Terreros recorded the capacity to beget.^[13] The Academy's 1899 edition introduced the present two senses, the quality of being viril and the age of manhood.^[14][4] In the Americas the word is recorded from 1816 in Mexico and Cartagena.^[15]

Timeline

• 1254 – uirilidat in Alfonso X's Judizios de las estrellas.^[2]
• 1431–1449 – virilidad, the second age of life, in El Victorial.^[3]
• c. 1440 – Santillana's use, the first record Corominas gives.^[6][7]
• 1492 – Nebrija's Latin–Spanish dictionary glosses virilitas as the strength of a man.^[16]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the word and a figurative sense.^[12]
• 1816 – first records in the Americas, in Mexico and Cartagena.^[15]
• 1899 – the Academy gives the two present senses.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. virility, manliness: the quality of being viril, the energy and courage (valor) traditionally attributed to a man.^{[4][1][17][18]}
2. The age of manhood, between youth and old age.^[4][19]

Related words

• viril
• virtud
• virago
• Latin virīlitās

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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)
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 828
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. viril
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva
9. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll
10. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto
11. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 494
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía
15. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
16. ^ 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
17. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos
18. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial
19. ^ Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es