apoiar

Forms

apoiar (first-person singular present apoio, first-person singular preterite apoiei, past participle apoiado)^[1]

Etymology

Houaiss takes it as borrowed from Italian appoggiare (“to lean one thing against another; to support”), an Italian verb recorded from 1310 that continues Vulgar Latin *appodiō, formed on Latin podium (“pedestal; balcony”), itself from Ancient Greek πόδιον (pódion, “little foot; base of a vase”), a diminutive of πούς (poús, “foot”).^[2][3] Aurélio also names Italian, and Nascentes adds the influence of poio.^[4][5]

Cunha and Machado take the Portuguese verb instead through Spanish apoyar, which the Italian verb gave.^[6][7] Priberam agrees.^[8] Corominas makes the Spanish verb an adaptation of the Italian under the influence of the native poyo (“stone bench”), first recorded in 1496 and rare before 1587.^[9][10] The DLP and Nascentes's larger dictionary derive the Portuguese word from the Vulgar Latin verb directly, and Wiktionary gives that origin while thinking the word is unlikely to be inherited.^[11][12][1] Silva Bastos and Figueiredo explained it as formed on apoio.^[13][14]

The Vulgar Latin verb surfaces in 13th-century Medieval Latin, by then a borrowing from Romance.^[1] Nascentes quotes it from Guillaume le Breton, of a soldier leaning his shields against the walls.^[12] Vieira explained the loss of the Latin /d/ by syncope.^[15] The same verb is French appuyer, Occitan apoiar and Catalan apuiar.^[16][17]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha and Machado date the first record to the 15th century, and Houaiss to 1516.^[6][7][2] A private letter written by 1644 has the form apoian.^[18]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) and Folqman (1755) head the word apoyar and refer apoiar to it.^[19][20] Morais (1789) gives the physical sense “to rest on a firm base” and the figurative ones “to rely on the authority of the Church Fathers”, “to ground with reasons” and “to favour”; in 1813 he still calls apoyar the better spelling.^[21][22]

The political sense “to support, approve” grew in the 19th century: in 1808 a motion is apoiada, and Silva Bastos records the applause of a speaker with apoiados.^[23][13] Houaiss adds sports and military senses.^[2]

Timeline

• 15th century – first record of the Portuguese verb according to Cunha and Machado.^[6][7]
• 1496 – first record of apoyar in Spanish.^[9]
• 1516 – the first date Houaiss gives.^[2]
• 1644 – apoian in a private letter.^[18]
• 1712 – Bluteau refers apoiar to apoyar.^[19]
• 1789 – Morais heads the word apoiar.^[21]
• 1808 – a parliamentary motion is apoiada “seconded”.^[23]
• 1873 – Vieira derives it from Low Latin appodiare.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. To support, back or approve (a person, idea or cause): Os vizinhos apoiaram a proposta da escola.^[2][4][1]
2. To protect, favour or sponsor.^[2][4]
3. To rest or lean (something) on or against something;^[2][24][1] (pronominal) to lean on: apoiou-se na bengala.^[2][24][1]
4. To base (an argument or a study) on;^[2][11] (pronominal) to rely on.^[2][11]
5. (pronominal) To help one another.^[2]
6. To second a motion or speaker.^[1][13]
7. (sports) To exchange passes with a teammate while building an attack.^[2]
8. (military) To support an operation by a complementary action.^[2]

Word family

• apoio

Related words

• poio
• pojar
• pódio
• Italian appoggiare
• Spanish apoyar
• French appuyer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. apoiar
3. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. apoiar
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. apoiar
6. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. apoiar
7. ^ a b c Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. apoiar
8. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. apoiar
9. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 301
10. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos
11. ^ 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. apoiar
12. ^ a b 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. apoiar
13. ^ a b c Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. apoiar
14. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. apoiar
15. ^ a b 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, 485
16. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
17. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
18. ^ a b 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. apoiar
19. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. apoiar
20. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. apoiar
21. ^ 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, 96
22. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 155
23. ^ a b NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. apoiar
24. ^ a b 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. apoiar