afora

Forms

afora (not comparable)^[1] The 14th century also writes affora.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese a + fora, written Old Galician-Portuguese afora and Old Galician-Portuguese affora in the oldest texts.^[2][1][3][4] Cunha and Lorenzo derive it instead from Latin afforās (“outside”), which the REW gives as the source of Romanian afară, Old French afors, Spanish afuera and the Portuguese word.^[5][6][7] Aurélio adds the medieval form Medieval Latin adforas.^[8] The Spanish word is explained in the same two ways, as a compound by the DLE, and García de Diego derives it from the Latin adverb.^[9][10]

The simple fora is from Latin forās (“out of doors, outside”), and the old language still had the form with final ⟨-s⟩, Old Galician-Portuguese foras.^[11] Wiktionary traces the Latin adverb to Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer- (“door, gate”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria use the adverb for movement away: que dentro nen afora / non podia saca-la “so that she could draw it neither in nor out”, and afastaron-s' afora “they drew away”.^[6] Houaiss and Cunha date both the adverb and the preposition “except” to the 13th century.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The Cantigas de Santa Maria also have fazer-se afora “to keep out of something, take no part”, and the Crónica Geral uses tirar afora for withdrawing from someone's presence and afora for “far from”.^[6] Machado's first quotation is from the Lusíadas (16th century), long after these records.^[4] Cardoso (1569) renders the word with Latin praeter and ultra, and Barbosa (1611) with praeter as a preposition.^[12][13] Morais (1789) treats it as an adverbial phrase meaning “except, besides”.^[14]

Today the adverb mostly follows a noun of place or time, meaning “out through” or “all along”: porta afora, pela vida afora.^[2][15] Dialects of northern Portugal use it for “onwards, ahead”, as in foi por aí afora.^[16]

Timeline

• 13th century – the adverb and the preposition, in the Cantigas de Santa Maria and other texts.^[2][5][6]
• 14th century – the spelling affora.^[2]
• c. 1430 – the Horto do Esposo (copied 1390–1437).^[17]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it with Latin praeter.^[12]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as “except, besides”.^[14]

Meanings

Adverb

1. out, outwards, towards the outside, after a noun: Fugiu porta afora.^[2][1][18]
2. Onwards, all along, throughout (in space or time): pela vida afora;^[2][1] Seguiram rio afora.^[2][1][15]

Preposition

1. except, apart from: Afora o irmão, ninguém apareceu.^[2][1][19]
2. besides, in addition to.^[2][18]

Related words

• fora
• Latin foras
• Spanish afuera

Usage notes

Afora is also a form of the verb aforar “to grant on a lease”, with a different origin.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. afora
3. ^ 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. afora
4. ^ a b Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. afora
5. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. fora
6. ^ a b c d 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. afora
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 265
8. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. afora
9. ^ 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. afuera
10. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. afforas
11. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fora
12. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. afora
13. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. afora
14. ^ 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, 37
15. ^ 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. afora
16. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. afora
17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. afora
18. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. afora
19. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 312
20. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. afora