The idea of verbigrance was formerly used as a synonym for example.
The Latin phrase verbi gratia gave rise to the term verbigracia . The concept refers to an example : a saying or an event that is cited with the intention of validating a statement.
The notion is often used as a synonym for “for example” , thus serving as a connector : “The national economy could improve with some measures; for example, a reduction in taxes and facilities for accessing credit” , “The initiative was supported, for example, by deputies López and Rocamora” , “We should imitate what the most advanced countries do in this matter, for example Germany and Japan” .
Origin of the concept of verbigracia
The word verbigracia began to be used in Spain and reached American Spanish in the 18th century . However, its use today is very limited, and almost non-existent in colloquial or everyday language .
It is therefore not common to hear a reference to the term in conversation. However, it is possible to find this idea in legal publications and in scientific documents. Some writers and journalists also occasionally use it.
Verbigracia is often used as an adverb and between commas : “Not all animals express their joy in the same way. A dog, for example, wags its tail.” It is important to note that, as a noun, it must appear in the masculine : “I gave him several verbigracias so that he could understand the magnitude of the problem, but he didn’t pay attention to me.”
In everyday language the word "for example" is not used.
Its etymology and current use
It should be noted, on the other hand, that verbi gratia can be mentioned using the abbreviations v. gr and v. g . The Latin phrase, in any case, is accepted by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), as indicated by the institution itself in its dictionary.
Since this is a very rare term, both in terms of its spelling and its current usage, the best thing we can do is take a look at its etymology . We should not underestimate the impact that understanding the origin of words can have on learning. In this case, we are dealing with the union of the following two parts, both coming from Latin:
* verbum : although it is true that among its meanings is our term «verb», the sense we give it in this case is that of « word ». Others that it has bequeathed to us in our language are «verborrea» and «verbigeration». Its origin is found in the Indo-European root *wer-6 , from which arose vrata- (which gives the idea of «order»), rhetor (which translates as «speaker» and is related to «rhetoric») and weriga- (which means «summon, call»), in Sanskrit, Greek and Hittite, respectively;
* gratia : Its most common meanings are “charm, favor” and, of course, “ grace ,” as we can see in this last word from Castilian and in “agradear,” both derived from Latin. The Indo-European root to which it is related is *gwerə- , which translates as “to praise out loud.”
Verbigracia in Latin
The year in which this term was included in a Spanish dictionary was 1739. Almost five decades later, the spelling verbigratia appeared in the dictionary of Terreros and Pando , which does not correspond to any Latin word, despite the fact that it subsequently appeared in some texts as a result of an incorrect translation from some Romance language (such as ours) back to Latin.
There are those who rely on texts written in Latin to defend the existence of this term, but it seems that these are very common errors in scientific Latin in recent centuries, which was plagued by liberties quite far removed from linguistic rules and formal defects with results that were quite far from the origins of the language. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the influence of more modern languages on these works is undeniable and gave rise to these errors.