alteza

Forms

alteza f (plural altezas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin altitia (“height”), written Old Galician-Portuguese alteza in the oldest texts.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Late Latin noun is formed altus (“high”) with the suffix -itia, and García de Diego cites it from the Mulomedicina Chironis, a Latin treatise on veterinary medicine.^[1][6] Wiktionary hedges the Latin source, and the word can also be analysed in Portuguese as alto with the suffix -eza.^[1][7]

As a title of kings and princes the word was influenced by Italian altezza, Houaiss, Cunha and Machado agree.^[2][3][4] Nascentes's fuller dictionary goes further and takes the whole word from Italian in the 16th century, with altura as the native word; the medieval records of the word tell against this.^[8][9] According to the REW the Italian title also passed into French altesse, and was taken up as a title by Spanish and Portuguese.^[10]

The same Latin noun is Galician alteza, Spanish alteza and Catalan altesa, besides the Italian word.^[10][6] The Latin adjective goes back to *altos, from *h₂eltós, a verbal adjective of the root *h₂el- (“to grow, nourish”); de Vaan marks the reconstruction with a query.^[1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century already use the word for the greatness of the Virgin: loemos a ssa nobreza / sa onrra e ssa alteza “let us praise her nobility, her honour and her highness”.^[9][2] The Crónica Troiana has it for physical height (grande d' alteza et d' anchura “great in height and breadth”), for a mountain top, and for nobility of character.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The physical and the moral senses run side by side from the beginning.^[9] The title appears in the 15th century: a document of 1456 has praza a uosa alteza “may it please Your Highness”, and Machado quotes a text of 1495.^[9][4][3] Cardoso (1569) and Barbosa (1611) translate the word with Latin celsitudo.^[12][13] In 1755 Folqman explains it as the form of address of princes and sons of kings, and Morais (1789) says that it was formerly given to the kings of Portugal and is now given to princes and infantes.^[14][15] The DLP records its later use in Portugal for the heirs of the imperial house of Brazil.^[16]

Timeline

• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria praise the Virgin's alteza.^[9][2]
• 14th century – the Crónica Troiana uses the word for height and nobility.^[9]
• c. 1430 – alteza in the Horto do Esposo.^[17]
• 1456 – uosa alteza as a form of address.^[9]
• 1503 – the title in a private letter.^[18]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates it as Latin celsitudo.^[12]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses it as the title of princes and sons of kings.^[14]
• 1789 – Morais records the shift of the title from kings to princes.^[15]
• 1871 – Vieira derives the word from Italian altezza.^[19]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rare) height, the quality of being high; altura.^[2][20][21]
2. (figurative) Moral elevation; nobility (nobreza), greatness of mind.^[2][20][16]
3. (capitalised) A title of honour, given first to kings and later only to princes: Sua Alteza Real, Vossa Alteza.^[2][20][1]
4. (by extension) The exercise of sovereignty, supreme power.^[2][16]

Related words

• alto
• altura
• Latin altus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. alteza
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. alteza
4. ^ a b c Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. alteza
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. alteza
6. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
7. ^ 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. alteza
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 23
9. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. alteza
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 386
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. alteza
13. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. alteza
14. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. alteza
15. ^ 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, 67
16. ^ a b c 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. alteza
17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. alteza
18. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. alteza
19. ^ 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, 338
20. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. alteza
21. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. alteza