visceral

Forms

visceral m or f (masculine and feminine plural viscerales)^[1]

Etymology

According to the Academy it is borrowed from Late Latin viscerālis (“of the internal organs”).^[2] Wiktionary analyses it as from Spanish víscera + -al, and Corominas lists it as a derivative of the noun.^[1][3] In Medieval Latin the adjective meant “internal, inward” and “dearly beloved”.^[4]

víscera was taken from viscera, the plural of the little-used vīscus (“the fleshy parts; the entrails”), and is recorded only from about 1730.^[3] De Vaan finds no clear etymology for the Latin noun;^[5][1] Wiktionary mentions a possible root Proto-Indo-European *weys- (“to turn”).^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first dated record is Enrique de Villena's Tratado de consolación of 1424, which speaks of ending one's days con angustia e rúgito viçeral “with anguish and a groaning from the bowels”.^[6] The cancioneros of the 15th century have gorda e viçeral carcoma “a fat, gnawing woodworm” and muy viçeral piedat “most heartfelt pity”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The 15th-century uses join the physical sense of the bowels with that of the deepest feelings, as Medieval Latin did.^[6][4] Terreros knew it only as a medical word, a remedy for the internal organs.^[7] The Academy entered it in 1869 as “belonging to the viscera”.^[8][9] The modern senses of a deep-rooted, irrational feeling (odio visceral) and of a person ruled by such feelings were in the Academy's dictionary by 2001.^[10][2][11]

Timeline

• 1424 – first record, in Villena's Tratado de consolación.^[6]
• 1430s – the cancioneros speak of viçeral piedat “heartfelt pity”.^[6]
• c. 1730 – víscera is first recorded, in Martín Martínez.^[3]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros records it as a medical term.^[7]
• 1794 – first record from the Americas, in Tucumán, among the qualities of quinine.^[12]
• 1869 – first in the Academy's dictionary.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (anatomy) Of or relating to the viscera: un dolor visceral.^[2][13][1]
2. Of a feeling or reaction: very intense, deep-rooted and irrational: Le tenía un rechazo visceral.^[2][11]
3. Of a person: easily carried away by such reactions; also as a noun.^[2][13]

Related words

• víscera
• eviscerar
• Latin vīscus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. visceral
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 830
4. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. visceralis
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. visceral
7. ^ a b 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, 809
8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 797
9. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 1093
10. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. visceral
11. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. visceral
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. visceral
13. ^ a b Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. visceral