átomo

Forms

átomo m (plural átomos)^[1] Houaiss records the spellings atamo and athomo in 1548.^[2] The etymological spelling athomo gave way to átomo long before the spelling reforms: Feijó (1734) and Morais (1813) already head the word Átomo.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin atomus (“indivisible; an atom”), a learned word, from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “uncut, indivisible”).^{[2][5][6][7][1]} Houaiss notes that the Latin adjective was used as a noun as a scientific term.^[2] The Greek word is formed from ἀ- (a-, “not”) and τομ- (tom-), the o-grade of the root of τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”).^[1]

Nascentes calls it the name used by the school of Leucippus and Democritus, and notes that the word changed gender: the Latin noun was feminine, the Portuguese one is masculine.^[8][7][9] He also observes that modern science no longer agrees with the etymology, since the atom can be divided.^[7]

The Latin word also has a popular outcome in átimo “instant”, beside Italian attimo “moment”.^[10][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machado's first record is from the 15th century, in the text he cites as Ceuta (chapter 1): mande sobre mim alguüa parte dos átomos daquella graça “may he send upon me some part of the atoms of that grace”.^[6] The word here already has the figurative sense “the tiniest part” of something.^[6] Houaiss and Cunha also date the first record to the 15th century, Houaiss from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Cunha gives the original sense as the smallest particle of matter, thought to be indivisible.^[5] Bluteau's vocabulary of synonyms (1728) lists argueiro “mote” and corpúsculo, calls the atom “an image of nothing”, and rejects as erroneous the doctrine of Democritus that the universe was put together from chance combinations of atoms.^[11] Morais (1813) defines it as the smallest elementary portion of which bodies consist, and records the figurative “smallest portion of anything”, the plural átomos for the motes of dust seen in a ray of sunlight, and um átomo de tempo “the smallest portion of time”.^[4]

In the 19th century Vieira describes atoms as the particles of physics and chemistry whose agglomeration forms bodies.^[12] The modern chemical sense, a stable system of a positive nucleus of protons and neutrons surrounded by electrons, is dated by Cunha to the 20th century.^[5]

The popular variant atimo was already in use in the 18th century: Feijó's spelling guide marks it as an error for átomo.^[3] Cunha dates átimo “instant” to the 19th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 15th century – first record, in a chronicle Machado cites as Ceuta.^[6][5][2]
• 1548 – the spellings atamo and athomo.^[2]
• 1728 – Bluteau's vocabulary of synonyms enters átomo.^[11]
• 1734 – Feijó calls atimo an error for átomo.^[3]
• 1813 – Morais records the figurative sense and um átomo de tempo.^[4]
• 1858 – first record of the derivative atômico.^[5]
• 19th century – first record of átimo “instant”.^[5]
• 20th century – the modern sense in chemistry.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (philosophy) In the thought of Leucippus and Democritus, each of the tiny, eternal and indivisible particles whose combinations make up all things.^[2][13]
2. (physics, chemistry) An atom: the smallest unit of a chemical element, a nucleus of protons and neutrons with electrons around it.^[2][14][1]
3. A tiny particle, a speck of dust.^[2]
4. (figurative) Something very small or insignificant; a trifle.^[2][15]
5. (figurative) A very short time, an instant; átimo.^[2][15][1]

Word family

• átimo
• atômico
• átomo-grama

Related words

• atomismo
• atomista
• Latin atomus
• Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. átomo
3. ^ a b c Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. átomo
4. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 224
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. átomo
6. ^ a b c d Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. átomo
7. ^ a b c Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. átomo
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 52
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. atomus
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 757
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. átomo
12. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 1, 643
13. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. átomo
14. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. átomo
15. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. átomo