amor

Forms

amor m (plural amores)^[1] Houaiss records the old spellings amur (14th century) and aamoor and hamor (15th century).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin amor (“love, affection, desire”), already written Old Galician-Portuguese amor in the troubadour songs of the 13th century.^[2][3][4][1] The same Latin word is Galician amor, Spanish amor, Catalan amor, Occitan amor, Italian amore and French amour.^[5][1] The French form is irregular: the DHLF explains it by the influence of the Occitan word of the troubadours, beside the older amur.^[6]

That noun is formed from Latin amō + -or, from the verb meaning “to love”.^[7][1] De Vaan traces that verb to a Proto-Italic stem meaning “to take, hold”, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃mh₃- (“to take hold of”), and explains the Latin sense as a development from “to take someone's hand” to “to regard as a friend”.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machado's first record is a line of the troubadour Nuno Fernandez Torneol, Poys naci nunca uj Amor “since I was born I have never seen love”.^[3] Houaiss dates the word to 1275 from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese.^[2] In the cantigas it is above all love for a person of the other sex, often in phrases such as coita d'amor and mal d'amor “the pain of love” and morrer d'amor “to die of love”, and it is also personified as the god of love.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Portuguese also used the word for a favour or kindness done to someone: Viterbo quotes a lease of Salzedas of 1293, por este amor que recebo “for this kindness that I receive”, and finds the use frequent.^[11] The cantigas have fazer amor in the old sense “to give proof of affection, to do something to please”, and por amor de Deus “for the love of God”.^[9] Morais explains por amor de as “because of”.^[12]

In the 18th century Bluteau opened his article with the theological love of God, and Folqman named plants after it, the amor perfeito (the pansy) among them.^[13][14] Morais added amor próprio “self-love” and meus amores, said fondly to a loved person.^[12] Modern dictionaries add the senses “love affair” and, by metonymy, “the sexual act” (fazer amor), as well as love of God, of one's neighbour and of a cause.^[2][15] In familiar use um amor is a charming person or thing, and a Portuguese dialect survey recorded it as an adjective meaning “pretty, sweet”.^[16][17]

Timeline

• 13th century – amor in the cantigas of Nuno Fernandez Torneol.^[3]
• 1275 – Houaiss's first date, from Cunha's medieval index.^[2]
• 1293 – amor “favour, kindness” in a lease of the monastery of Salzedas.^[11]
• 14th century – the spelling amur.^[2]
• 1400 – the Flos Sanctorum fragment of Santiago de Compostela, the first text of the CTA corpus to use the word.^[18]
• 1569 – Cardoso's Portuguese–Latin dictionary renders amor by Latin amor.^[19]
• 1755 – Folqman lists amor perfeito, the pansy.^[14]
• 1813 – Morais lists amor próprio and meus amores.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. love: a deep affection that makes one want the good of another person or of a thing: o amor de um pai pelos filhos.^[2][15][1]
2. Romantic or sexual attraction between two people; paixão.^[2][20]
3. A love affair (also in the plural): ela teve muitos amores.^[2][20]
4. The sexual act, in fazer amor.^[2][16]
5. (religion) The love of God for people, and the love owed to God and to one's neighbour; caridade.^[2][21]
6. A strong liking or devotion for an ideal, an activity or a thing: amor à pátria, amor à música.^[2][15]
7. The person or thing that is loved;^[1] (as a term of endearment) darling: anda cá, meu amor.^[2][1]
8. (informal) A charming, kind or lovely person or thing: esta criança é um amor.^[16][1]
9. (mythology) The god of love, Cupido.^[2]

Word family

• amor-perfeito
• amor-próprio
• amorável
• amorzinho
• desamor

Related words

• amador
• amante
• amar
• amoroso
• Latin amor

Usage notes

The proverb amor com amor se paga “love is repaid with love” means that a good turn should be returned.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. amor
3. ^ a b c Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. amor
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. amor
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 27
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. amour
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. amor
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. amō
9. ^ a b 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. amor
10. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. amor
11. ^ a b Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 113
12. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 124
13. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. amor
14. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. amor
15. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. amor
16. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 595
17. ^ 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. amor
18. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. amor
19. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. amor
20. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. amor
21. ^ 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. amor