amizade

Forms

amizade f (plural amizades)^[1] Houaiss records amiçade (1188–1230), amizade (13th century), amyzada (14th century), amizidade and amiizade (15th century).^[2] The form amizidade is still in the chronicle of the Constable and lives on in popular speech.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *amīcitās (“friendship”), not the classical Latin amīcitia, written Old Galician-Portuguese amizade in the oldest texts.^[2][4][5][1] The Vulgar Latin noun is formed from amīcus (“friend”) with the suffix -tās.^[2][1]

Spanish amistad comes from the same Vulgar Latin word, and Catalan amistat, Italian amistà and French amitié (earlier Old French amistet) are the parallels Nascentes gives.^[6][7]

The DDGM, following Nunes and Williams, takes amizidade as the older form, which lost its second ⟨i⟩ to give amizdade and then the present form, with the same simplification as in prazo and rezar.^[3][7][5] In 1871 Vieira derived the word from Old Occitan amistatz.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin law text of 1188–1230 already has the Romance word: Et todolos que uenierent sedeant in ista amiçade “and all who come shall be in this alliance”, and Nascentes quotes amizdade from the same collection.^[4][7] In Galician-Portuguese the word appears in the Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century: nunca nos podia ja mayor amizade / mostrar “he could never show us greater friendship”, and amizade avia con ũu borges “he was friends with a townsman”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Besides personal friendship, the medieval chronicles use the word for peace and alliance between peoples: the Crónica Troiana asks why the Trojans do not make algũa paz ou algũa amizade with the Greeks.^[3] Morais (1789) adds “acts of a friend, favours”, as in fazer amizades a alguém.^[9] Morais (1813) and Vieira also record the pejorative sense “an illicit relationship, concubinage”, which Houaiss marks as old.^[10][8][2]

Brazilian informal Portuguese uses amizade to address a stranger, “friend, mate”, and amizade colorida (recorded in 1981) for a casual sexual relationship without commitment.^[2] Silva Bastos and Figueiredo record Amizade as the name of a fishing installation on the coast of Galé.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 1188–1230 – amiçade in a Latin law text.^[2][4]
• 13th century – amizade in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[3][4]
• 14th century – the spelling amyzada.^[2]
• 15th century – amizidade and amiizade.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates Amizade with Latin amicitia.^[13]
• 1789 – Morais lists adquirir, grangear, cultivar and quebrar a amizade.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais records amizade de barca, ou caminho, a passing friendship.^[10]
• 1981 – first record of amizade colorida in Brazil.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. friendship, a feeling of affection between people not tied by family or sexual relationship: A amizade entre eles durou a vida toda.^[2][14][1]
2. Good understanding and cooperation between groups, institutions or countries.^[2][14]
3. A friend; a person one is friends with: É uma das minhas melhores amizades.^[2][14]
4. (chiefly in the plural) Social relations, acquaintances: fazer amizades.^[2]
5. Agreement, pact or alliance.^[2]
6. Attachment of an animal to people.^[2][14]
7. (informal) A kind or indulgent gesture.^[2]
8. (obsolete) Concubinage.^[2][8]
9. (Brazil, informal) Used to address someone: friend, mate.^[2]

Word family

• amizade colorida

Related words

• amigo
• amigável
• Latin amīcitia
• Galician amizade
• Spanish amistad

Usage notes

Amizade de barca, de caminho or de passagem is a short-lived friendship;^[2][10] Morais already has amizade de chapéu, one kept up only out of courtesy.^[2][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. amizade
3. ^ a b c d e 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. amizade
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. amizade
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. amizade
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. amistad
7. ^ a b c Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. amizade
8. ^ a b c 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, 375
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, 75
10. ^ a b c d Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 122
11. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. amizade
12. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 77
13. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. amizade
14. ^ a b c d 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. amizade