amor

Forms

amor m or (archaic or poetic) f (plural amors)^[1] The DCVB records the pronunciations əmóɾ, əmó, amóɾ and əmúɾt.^[2] The word was mostly feminine in the old language, although the masculine already appears in Llull's Blanquerna.^[3] The DIEC2 allows both genders, and the DEIEC notes that the feminine is receding.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin amor (“love”).^[3][2][6][1] The Latin noun is formed from amō (“to love”) with the suffix -or.^[7][1]

The same Latin word is Italian amore, French amour, Occitan amor, Spanish amor and Portuguese amor.^[8][1] The French form, instead of the regular ⟨ameur⟩, probably owes its vowel to Old Occitan.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Homilies d'Organyà, of the late 12th century: charity, says the preacher, is the love of God or of every Christian (caritad és --- aquesta é l'amor de Déu o de tot cristià).^[3][9] Bruguera and the GDLC date the word to the 12th century from the same text.^[10][6]

Semantic evolution

Besides love itself, the old language used the word for favour and goodwill.^[3] Ab amor meant "voluntarily, without coercion" in the Consolat de Mar, and amor was the remission of a fine in documents of 1415 and 1434.^[3] Fer amor meant to grant a remission or not to demand what was owed.^[11] Per amor de "because of, in order to" is in the Roussillon Vides de sants, and the vowel was often lost in it, giving per mor de.^[3][11]

Llull made love the subject of the Llibre d'amic e amat, where the lover answers every question with amor.^[12] The word was also used for the heat of female animals, anar en amor, in the Llibre dels set savis de Roma and in a horse-doctor's book of 1424.^[11] Figuera (1840) still records this use in Mallorca.^[13]

Labèrnia (1839) heads the word as masculine;^[14][15][16] Pal·las (1927) and Fabra (1932) give it as masculine and feminine.^[14][15][16] Derivatives include amorós, amorejar and amoret.^[10]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – first record, in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[3][9]
• 1381 – Eiximenis speaks of the love that God bears us.^[11]
• 1415 – amor for the remission of a fine in a document of La Pobla de Lillet.^[3]
• 1424 – mules qui van en amor in Manuel Dieç's book of horse medicine.^[11]
• 1460 – the Tirant lo Blanc calls true love that founded on charity.^[11]
• 1932 – Fabra gives the word as masculine and feminine.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. love, strong affection for a person or thing: l'amor a la terra.^[4][6]
2. amb amor: with the special care that love of something gives.^[4]
3. amor de Déu: the love of a person for God;^[17] per l'amor de Déu: for charity's sake.^[4]
4. amor propi: self-esteem, pride.^[4]
5. per amor a l'art: without seeking gain, for love.^[4]
6. Tender, passionate love for a person; passion between lovers.^[4][6]
7. amor cortès: courtly love, love conceived as a vassal's service to a lady.^[4]
8. amor lliure: free love.^[4]
9. fer l'amor: to make love;^[17] fer l'amor a algú: to court someone.^[4]
10. The object of love, a loved person or thing: La música és el seu gran amor.^[4][6]

Word family

• amorós
• amorosament
• amorejar
• amoret

Related words

• amar
• amic
• Latin amor
• French amour

Usage notes

Per amor de, often reduced to per mor de, became a prepositional phrase meaning "because of" or "in order to".^[3] Mistral records the same phrase, pèr amor de, in Occitan.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. amor
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 1, 259
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. amor
5. ^ Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Diccionari essencial de la llengua catalana (DEIEC), online, https://deiec.iec.cat, p. s.v. amor
6. ^ a b c d e Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. amor
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. amor
9. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. amor
10. ^ a b Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 63
11. ^ a b c d e f Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. amor
12. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. amor
13. ^ Figuera, Pere Antoni (1840), Diccionari mallorquí-castellà, Palma de Mallorca, p. s.v. amor
14. ^ a b Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. amor
15. ^ a b Vallès, Emili (1927), Pal·las: diccionari català il·lustrat, Barcelona: Salvat, p. s.v. amor
16. ^ a b c Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. amor
17. ^ a b c Mistral, Frédéric (1878–1886), Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige, ou dictionnaire provençal-français, 2 vols., Aix-en-Provence, p. 1, 87