Vientos, rumbos y direcciones en el horizonte. El nacimiento de una terminología científica en el Renacimiento.

Abstract

The terms used today for winds and directions in the horizon
appeared in Spanish during the 15th century, by sailors of the Atlantic
Ocean, and spread quickly during the 16th century within navigation technical
language, replacing medieval Spanish names. The article analyzes
the reasons for this substitution, and shows how, opposite to the plurality
of traditional names, the new ones appeared as a unique and organised series, with the features of an authentic scientific terminology: they were
systematic, accurate and monosemic, in addition to international, since
they were used in all the Atlantic countries. Neologisms denotating winds
appear associated to the birth of the geographical science, and they reflect
the geometrical treatment of the space entailed by this science.