agradar

Forms

agradar (first-person singular present agrado, first-person singular preterite agradei, past participle agradado)^[1] Houaiss records agardar beside agradar in the 15th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese a- + grado (“will, liking”) + -ar, from the old noun meaning “will, pleasure”.^[2][3][4][1] That noun, written Old Galician-Portuguese graado in the 13th century, is from Latin grātum (“liking, wish”), the neuter of grātus (“pleasing; thankful”).^[5][6][1] The REW lists the same verb in Spanish agradar and Old Occitan agradar, and the related French agréer.^[6] The Spanish verb is recorded about 1300, after an older Old Spanish gradar.^[7]

The Latin adjective goes back to *gʷrātos, from *gʷerH- (“to welcome, praise”).^[1] The DHLF calls it probably an old religious term.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the verb to the 15th century.^[2][9] Machado's earliest quotation is from Arrais in the 16th century: choosing one's state in life he cousa, que se deve fazer com muita consideração e desejo de agradar a Deos “is a thing to be done with much thought and the wish to please God”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Cardoso (1569) glosses it with Latin placeo and arrideo, and Barbosa (1611) with contentar.^[11][12] Bluteau defined it as having qualities that look well to the senses or the mind.^[13] Morais (1813) records the pronominal agradar-se de “to find something pleasant” and the transitive “to satisfy”, quoting Lucena.^[14] Michaelis notes that the construction with a direct object in the sense “to please” has fallen out of use.^[15]

Regional senses arose in Brazil: in the north-east “to make a fuss of, caress”, which Houaiss records as of north-eastern origin, and in Rio Grande do Sul “to have a hunch”.^[2][16][15] In Portugal it has a vulgar sense “to attract sexually”.^[2]

Timeline

• 15th century – first records, as agradar and agardar.^[2][9]
• 16th century – Arrais writes of the wish de agradar a Deos.^[10]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses Agradar with Latin placeo.^[11]
• 1611 – Barbosa explains it as contentar.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais records the pronominal agradar-se.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be pleasant to; to please, satisfy: O novo menu agradou aos clientes.^[2][3][1]
2. (intransitive) To give pleasure, to go down well: O filme agradou muito.^[2][1]
3. (pronominal, agradar-se de) To take pleasure in; to be delighted with.^[2][17]
4. (pronominal) To fall in love with someone.^[2]
5. (Brazil) To make a fuss of, caress, pamper.^[2][3][16]
6. (Rio Grande do Sul) To have the impression or a hunch that something will happen.^[2][15]
7. (Portugal, vulgar) To attract sexually.^[2]

Word family

• agrado
• agradável
• desagradar

Related words

• grado
• grato
• agradecer
• Latin gratus
• Spanish agradar

Usage notes

Houaiss records a separate verb agradar “to harrow”, formed from a- and gradar, first listed in 1696.^[2] Vieira notes that it was collected by Bento Pereira, Morais (1789) gives only this sense under agradar, and Aurélio and Priberam still list it.^{[18][19][3][17]}

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. agradar
3. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. agradar
4. ^ 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. agradar
5. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. grado
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3848
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. grado
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. gré
9. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. grato
10. ^ a b Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. agradar
11. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. agradar
12. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. agradar
13. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. agradar
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 17
15. ^ 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. agradar
16. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. agradar
17. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. agradar
18. ^ 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, 234
19. ^ 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, 42