absolver

Forms

absolver (first-person singular present absolvo, first-person singular preterite absolvi, past participle absolvido)^[1] The old form was assolver (asolver), from the 13th century; it was still used in the 16th, by Gil Vicente, beside absolver.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin absolvō (“to set free; to acquit”), a verb much used in Church and legal language.^[2][4][1] The old form was Old Galician-Portuguese assolver.^[5][2][4] Nascentes says the word came by the learned route through it and was remade on the Latin, and the spelling with ⟨b⟩ is recorded from the 15th century.^[5][2][4]

The same Latin verb is Spanish absolver, Catalan absoldre, French absoudre and Old French assoudre.^[6][1]

The Latin verb is made of the prefix ab- (“away from”) and solvō (“to loosen, release”).^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates assolver to the 13th century, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese.^[2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria have aquesta moller bõa comungad' e assolvede “give this good woman communion and absolve her”, in the religious sense.^[8] A document of Guarda of 1298, quoted by Viterbo, has O Bispo os asolva ende “let the bishop absolve them of it”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss records the sense “to forgive” for absolver and “to solve” for absoluer in the 15th century.^[2] The legal sense “to acquit” is in the Ordenações, and Morais (1789) adds “to resolve doubts”, “to finish” and, in painting, “to blend colours with the brush”.^[4][9] The senses “to solve” and “to finish” are now old.^[10][11]

Timeline

• 13th century – first record, as assolver.^[2][3]
• 1298 – asolva in a document of Guarda.^[4]
• 1340 – the spelling asoluer.^[2]
• 15th century – absolver “to forgive” and absoluer “to solve”.^[2]
• 16th century – Gil Vicente still uses assolves.^[4]
• 1611 – Barbosa's dictionary has Absolver.^[12]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau heads it absolver, ou assolver.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To acquit; to declare someone not guilty or free from the penalty of a charge: O tribunal absolveu a arguida.^[2][14][1]
2. (religion) To absolve; to forgive sins in the name of God.^[2][14][1]
3. To forgive, pardon.^[15][1]
4. To release from an obligation; to exempt.^[15][11]
5. (reflexive) To excuse oneself; to free oneself of a duty.^[16][15]
6. (archaic) To solve; to carry through.^[10][11]

Word family

• absolvição

Related words

• absolução
• absolutório
• absoluto
• solver
• Latin absolvō

Usage notes

Besides the regular participle absolvido, Machado notes the irregular participles absoluto and absolto;^[4] absoluto, from Latin absolūtus, also took the sense “complete, evident”.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. absolver
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. absolver
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. absolver
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. absolver
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. absolvere
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. absoluō
8. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. assolver
9. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 10
10. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. absolver
11. ^ a b c Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. absolver
12. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. absolver
13. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. absolver
14. ^ a b 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. absolver
15. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. absolver
16. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 113