admirar

Forms

admirar (first-person singular present admiro, first-person singular preterite admirei, past participle admirado)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin admīror (“to wonder at, admire”), a learned word.^[2][3][4][1] Machado and Nascentes start from an active form of the verb that replaced the deponent in later Latin.^[4][5] The same Latin verb gave Spanish admirar.^[6]

The verb is formed from Latin ad- + mīror (“to wonder”).^[7][1] Wiktionary derives the verb from mīrus (“remarkable, astonishing”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sméyros (“laughing, smiling”).^[1]

Machado notes that the older language said maravilhar-se for “to be amazed”, as French said se merveiller before admirer.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the verb to the 15th century.^[2][3] Machado's earliest quotation is from Camões's Lusíadas, where the people, astonished (que se admira), retell what each of them saw: the sense is “to wonder, be amazed”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Cunha's first sense is “to cause wonder, to enrapture”.^[3] Bluteau explained admirar as seeing with the eyes of the mind, and Morais in 1789 gave the three uses still current: to cause wonder (admira-me a sua virtude), to look on with admiration (admiro a sua constância) and, reflexive, to be amazed at something.^[8][9] The modern dictionaries put first the sense of contemplating something with pleasure and of holding someone in high esteem, and keep the older sense of surprise beside it.^[2][10][11]

The derivatives followed the verb: admiração in the 15th century, admirador and admirável in the 16th, admirativo in the 17th.^[3]

Timeline

• 15th century – first records of admirar and of admiração.^[2][3]
• 1572 – Camões uses admira-se in the Lusíadas.^[4]
• 1576 – first record of admirativo given in Cunha's addenda.^[3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines the verb as seeing with the mind.^[8]
• 1789 – Morais lists the senses “to cause admiration”, “to look on with admiration” and admirar-se “to be amazed”.^[9]
• 1871 – Vieira derives the verb from Latin and gives quotations from the classical authors.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To look at or consider with great pleasure or interest; to admire: Ficámos a admirar a paisagem da serra.^[2][13][1]
2. (transitive) To hold in high esteem; to respect: Sempre admirou a honestidade do avô.^[2][10][1]
3. (transitive, reflexive) To be astonished or surprised at something unexpected: Admirou-se com a resposta do aluno.^[2][14][1]
4. (transitive) Of a thing: to cause surprise or wonder in someone;^[2][15][11] não admira que “no wonder that”.^[2][15][11]
5. (reflexive) To admire one another.^[2]

Word family

• admiração
• admirador
• admirativo
• admirável

Related words

• maravilhar
• Latin admīror
• Spanish admirar

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. admirar
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. admirar
4. ^ a b c d e Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. admirar
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. admirar
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. admirar
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. admīror
8. ^ 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. admirar
9. ^ a b 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, 28
10. ^ 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. admirar
11. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 257
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, 161
13. ^ 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. admirar
14. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. admirar
15. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. admirar