volante

Forms

volante m or f (masculine and feminine plural volantes)^[1] 13th-century texts write the shortened form volant (uolant), as in the Lapidario of Alfonso X.^[2][3] 16th-century documents from Mexico spell it bolante.^[4]

Etymology

It is the old present participle of the verb, formed from Spanish volar + -nte.^[5][6][7] The Academy since 1884 and Moliner give its source as Latin volāns (“flying”), the present participle of volō (“to fly”).^[8][9][5] Corominas dates it to the 14th century.^[10]

De Vaan traces the Latin verb to *gʷelāō, perhaps from *gʷelh₁- (“to raise the arm, throw”);^[11][1] Wiktionary reports his suggestion that “to lift the arm” shifted to “to fly” from the way birds fly.^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alfonso X's Lapidario (c. 1250) names a star boytre uolant “flying vulture”, and his astronomical works of 1277 name a constellation el uolant.^[3][2] The sense was simply “flying”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades (1739) gives three senses: flying; moving from place to place without a fixed seat, as in ronda volante “roving patrol” (1728); and, as a noun, a hanging ornament of fine cloth that women wore on the head, quoted from Fray Luis de León: en volantes, en guantes, y en pebetes “on veils, gloves and perfumes”.^[7] A fabric called bolante appears in Puebla in 1554, and a escuadrón volante “flying squadron” in Bogotá in 1637.^[4]

The Academy added the flounce sewn on skirts by 1884, the flywheel of a machine by 1899, and later the balance of a watch and the coining press.^[8][12][13] With the motor car the word took the sense “steering wheel”, which Santamaría records in Mexico and Chile; from it came the sense “driver” in Cuba and the River Plate and “racing driver” in Chile.^[14][15] In 19th-century Cuba volante was a light two-wheeled carriage like the quitrín.^[16][17] Across Latin America it is a printed leaflet handed out in public.^[15]

Timeline

• 1247 – the Aragonese Fueros de Aragón have aguila uolant “flying eagle”.^[2]
• c. 1250 – Alfonso X's Lapidario has boytre uolant.^[3][2]
• 14th century – Corominas's date for volante.^[10]
• 1554 – bolantes, a fabric, in Puebla, Mexico.^[4]
• 1739 – Autoridades: flying, roving, and a women's head ornament.^[7]
• 1836 – Pichardo describes the Cuban carriage called volante.^[16]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin volans as its source and adds the skirt flounce.^[8]
• 1899 – the flywheel of a machine.^[12]
• 1959 – Santamaría records the sense “steering wheel”.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. flying.^[5][1]
2. Moving or carried from place to place without a fixed seat; itinerant: un hospital volante.^[5][9]
3. (nautical) Of parts of a ship: loose, not fixed.^[5][1]

Noun

1. (football) A midfielder.^[5][15][1]
2. A ruffle or frill trimming clothes or upholstery.^[5][1]
3. A light movable screen.^[5]
4. The balance wheel of a watch.^[5][9]
5. A screw press for striking coins and medals.^[5][9]
6. A slip of paper used for a note, request or referral.^[5]
7. The steering wheel of a motor vehicle.^[5][9][1]
8. A shuttlecock; the game of bádminton.^[5][1]
9. (historical) A liveried footman who went before his master's coach or horse.^[5]
10. (historical) A hanging head ornament of fine cloth worn by women.^[5][7]
11. (Latin America) A printed leaflet or flyer handed out in public.^[15][1]
12. (Cuba, River Plate) A skilled driver.^[15][1]

Word family

• volantear

Related words

• volar

Usage notes

Set phrases include platillo volante “flying saucer” and ciervo volante “stag beetle”.^[1][13] The rarer flywheel sense is often rueda volante.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, p. s.v. volante
3. ^ a b c d 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. volante
4. ^ a b c 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. volante
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. volante
6. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. volante
7. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 515
8. ^ 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. 1097
9. ^ a b c d e f Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. volante
10. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. volar
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 1027
13. ^ a b Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1670
14. ^ a b Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Porrúa, p. 1118
15. ^ a b c d e Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. volante
16. ^ a b Pichardo, Esteban (1836), Diccionario provincial de voces cubanas, Matanzas: Imprenta de la Real Marina, p. 261
17. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 819