acusar

Forms

acusar (first-person singular present acuso, first-person singular preterite acusei, past participle acusado)^[1] Medieval texts write acusar and accusar, and the 15th century also accussar.^[2] Until the spelling reforms the usual form was accusar, to which Vieira and Figueiredo refer acusar.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin accūsō (“to blame, accuse, charge”), written Old Galician-Portuguese acusar in the oldest texts.^[2][5][6][1] Nascentes takes it to be a learned word.^[7] For the Spanish verb, Corominas finds no firm reason to think so, although the REW implies it.^[8]

The same Latin verb is Spanish acusar, Catalan acusar, French accuser and Italian accusare.^[9][1] The Latin verb is formed from ad- and causa (“lawsuit, cause”).^[10][1] The latter is from Proto-Italic *kaussā, of unknown further origin.^[1] Its inherited outcome is cousa, now coisa.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria use the verb in the sense “to accuse, denounce someone to an authority”: E fórona acusar / ao Bispo do logar “and they went to accuse her to the bishop of the place”, and in cantiga 78 de taes cousas a el o acussaron “they accused him to him of such things”.^[12][6]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval texts the verb meant “to charge, incriminate”, both in everyday use and in law; the Crónica Troiana uses it of someone “accused and exposed”, and the records of the Santiago council for bringing charges.^[12] Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 already lists acusador and acusação beside the verb.^[13] Cunha dates both to the 13th century.^[5]

The weaker sense “to show, reveal” and the business use “to acknowledge receipt” of a letter are recorded in Aulete's and Houaiss's dictionaries.^[2][14] Houaiss also has two nautical senses: to slacken a rope little by little, and to repeat an order to show it has been understood.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[2][5][12]
• 13th century – acusação and acusador.^[5]
• 15th century – the spelling accussar.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates acusar with the Latin accuso and criminor.^[15]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists acusador and acusação.^[13]
• 1871 – Vieira enters the verb under accusar.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To accuse: to charge someone with a fault, offence or crime; to blame: Acusaram o vizinho de ter roubado a bicicleta.^[2][16][1]
2. (reflexive) To declare oneself guilty, give oneself up.^[2][17]
3. To censure, judge unfavourably.^[2]
4. (law) To bring a charge against someone before a court; to prosecute.^[2]
5. To brand someone as something: acusar alguém de traidor.^[2]
6. (figurative) To show, reveal or indicate: A análise acusou falta de ferro.^[2][18]
7. To acknowledge the receipt of a letter or document.^[2][19]
8. (nautical) To slacken a rope gradually; to repeat an order to show that it has been understood.^[2]

Word family

• acusação
• acusador
• acusado

Related words

• acusativo
• acusatório
• causa
• coisa
• Latin accūsō
• Spanish acusar

Usage notes

Acusar o jogo in card games is to show one's hand on the table.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. acusar
3. ^ a b 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, 137
4. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. acusar
5. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. acusar
6. ^ a b Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. acusar
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. acusar
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 47
9. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 8
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. causa
12. ^ a b c 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. acusar
13. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. acusar
14. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. acusar
15. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. acusar
16. ^ 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. acusar
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. acusar
18. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. acusar
19. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 230