Etymograph

English

encomienda

Encomienda comes from Spanish encomienda ‘grant’, and goes back to encomendardeverb..

  1. Spanishc. 1500–presentencomendardeverb.
  2. Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presentencomienda‘grant’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1886same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Spanishc. 1500–presentencomendardeverb.
  2. Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presentencomienda‘grant’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1886same form

Earliest quotation: 1886, Hubert Howe Bancroft, The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft: History of Central Americ: “Natives voluntarily coming forward and entering in encomienda were…”

Every English word from Spanish encomendardeverb.

Today it means

noun A system in Spain and, later and more extensively, in Spanish colonies, in which the right to exploit the labour of certain groups of subject people (initially, Muslims, during the Reconquista) was granted to conquerors; servitude within this system.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Spanish encomendardeverb. / encomienda

Shirt and support for this word