récord

Récord is the Spanish term for a record in the sense of a benchmark, best-known achievement, or notable measurable value. It is used across Spanish-speaking regions to denote the highest or most significant performance in a given field, such as sports, science, or public data. Phrases such as batir un récord, romper un récord, o establecer un récord are common ways to describe setting or breaking a new high mark. In many contexts, the word is paired with qualifiers like récord mundial or récord nacional to specify the scope of the achievement.

Etymology and usage notes: récord comes from Latin recordum and entered Spanish through Old French, with the sense evolving to refer to documented or remembered achievements. The accent on the é signals the stress pattern of the word in standard Spanish. The plural is récords. In Spanish, the term is typically used for accomplishments or measurements rather than for audio or video recordings; for those meanings, grabación or disco are used instead.

Other notes: while récord is widely used in sports and public records, it can appear in journalism and everyday speech to describe notable results, performances, or official statistics. The word forms part of expressions that describe progress, competition, and historical or statistical significance, and it complements related terms such as marca, hito, and registro in broader discussions of records and benchmarks.

See also: Record (disambiguation).