angélico

Forms

angélico (feminine angélica, masculine plural angélicos, feminine plural angélicas)^[1] Fifteenth-century texts write angellico.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin angelicus (“angelic”), a learned word.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin adjective renders Ancient Greek ἀγγελικός (angelikós, “of a messenger”), formed from ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”) with the suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[4][6][1] Machado notes that the Latin word first meant “of messengers” and was the name of the dactylic metre, the “messengers' metre”, before it meant “angelic”.^[4][7] In Medieval Latin it also meant “of a monk or nun”, as in the phrase for a monk's habit.^[8]

The same Latin word is Spanish angélico, Catalan angèlic, French angélique and Italian angelico.^[9][1] It is the adjective of anjo, the popular word.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machado's first record is in the 14th-century Corte Imperial, where something cannot be segundo a natura deuynal e bem asy segundo a natura angellica “according to the divine nature and likewise according to the angelic nature”.^[4] Houaiss and Cunha also date the word to the 14th century.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From “of angels” the word came to mean “like an angel”, and so very beautiful, pure or harmonious;^[10][11] Vieira gives this extended sense with a line of Camões.^[10][11] Fixed phrases go back to the old dictionaries: espíritos angélicos “the angels”, saudação angélica “the Hail Mary” and pão angélico “the Eucharist”, and in pharmacy água angélica, a mild purgative.^[11][10] Vieira also lists coroa angélica, an old name for the crown of Hungary, and an instrument of seventeen strings called the angélico.^[10]

In the history of religion the word is also a synonym of angelita, and as a noun it named a medicinal plant of Brazil.^[2][12][13]

Timeline

• 14th century – angellica in the Corte Imperial.^[4][3]
• 15th century – the spelling angellico.^[2]
• 1734 – Feijó defines it as “a thing of an angel”.^[14]
• 1813 – Morais lists saudação angélica, pão angélico and água angélica.^[11]
• 1871 – Vieira adds the senses “beautiful, harmonious” and the names of a crown and a musical instrument.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to angels (anjo); angelic: os coros angélicos.^[2][15][1]
2. Like an angel in beauty, innocence or perfection: um sorriso angélico.^[15][16]
3. (figurative) Spotless, pure.^[15][17]
4. (chemistry) Obtained from angélica and some other plants.^[16]
5. (history of religion) The same as angelita, as an adjective and a noun.^[2]

Related words

• anjo
• angelical
• Latin angelicus

Usage notes

The synonym angelical is used in the same senses.^[2][15] Pão angélico “angelic bread” is a name of the Eucharistic host.^[17]

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. angélico
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. anjo
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. angélico
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. angélico
6. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. angelicus
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. angelicus
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. angélico
10. ^ a b c d e 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, 417
11. ^ a b c d Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 133
12. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. angélico
13. ^ 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. angélico
14. ^ Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. angélico
15. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. angélico
16. ^ a b 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. angélico
17. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 662