arrotar

Forms

arrotar (first-person singular present arroto, first-person singular preterite arrotei, past participle arrotado)^[1] The 15th-century texts write rotar, without the initial a-.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ēructō (“to belch up”), according to Machado, Nascentes, the Academia's dictionary and Wiktionary.^[4][5][6][1] Houaiss calls the origin controversial: besides the Latin compound, he thinks it more likely to come from the simple ructō (“to belch”), the source of the compound and of ructus (“a belch”), with a prothetic vowel added.^[2] Aulete and Figueiredo also start from the simple verb, Aulete explaining the initial vowel by the noun arroto.^[7][8] Cunha instead proposes *ēruptō, formed on ēruptus, the past participle of ērumpō (“to burst out”), in place of the Latin verb for belching.^[3][2] Nascentes reports Cornu's view that the participle ruptus (“broken”) influenced the vowel.^[9]

The same verb is Galician arrotar, Asturian rutar and Sicilian arrutari.^[1] Nascentes compares Italian ruttare and French roter.^[9] The simple Latin verb is a frequentative of *rūgō (“to belch”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewg- (“to belch, roar”), and the learned doublet is eructar.^[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb appears in the 15th century as rotar.^[2][3] The first dated quotation Machado gives is of the 16th century, from a Portuguese version of Luis de Granada's catechism, about people “still belching the deadly meats of the idols” (estando ainda arrotando os manjares mortíferos dos Ídolos).^[4]

Semantic evolution

The noun arroto is recorded in the 14th century, before the verb, and rotamento in the 15th.^[3] The figurative sense “to boast” is as old as the 16th century: Machado quotes Ceita, hoje arrotais de farto, amanhã dais soluços de faminto “today you belch from fullness, tomorrow you sob from hunger”.^[4] Morais (1789) gives it as figurative and vulgar, and Morais (1813) adds the phrase arrotar postas de pescada “to belch slices of hake”, that is, to show off as rich.^[11][12][13]

In popular use arrotar also means to pay a bill unwillingly, and in Trás-os-Montes it is said of a partridge that rises with a whirr of wings.^[6][14] In Brazil the dialect surveys also record it for “to vomit”.^[14]

Timeline

• 14th century – the noun arroto first recorded.^[3]
• 15th century – rotar first recorded.^[2][3]
• 16th century – arrotar, and the sense “to boast”.^[3][4]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates Arrotar by Latin ructo.^[15]
• 1611 – Barbosa adds arrotador and arrotadora.^[16]
• 1813 – Morais records arrotar postas de pescada.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To belch, to burp: to bring up stomach gas through the mouth, usually noisily: Arrotou depois do jantar.^[2][17][1]
2. (transitive) To give off (the smell of something eaten or drunk) in a belch.^[17][2]
3. (figurative) To boast of, to flaunt: arrotar riqueza.^[2][17][13]
4. (informal) To pay (a bill or expense), usually reluctantly.^[6][13][1]
5. (Trás-os-Montes) Of a partridge (perdiz), to make a noise when taking off.^[6][14]

Word family

• arroto

Related words

• eructar
• Latin ructō
• Galician arrotar

Usage notes

The set phrase arrotar postas de pescada means to put on airs of wealth or importance.^[13][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. arrotar
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. arrotar
4. ^ a b c d Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. arrotar
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. arrotar
6. ^ 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. arrotar
7. ^ 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. arrotar
8. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. arrotar
9. ^ 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. 46
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. ructō
11. ^ 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, 123
12. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 197
13. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 959
14. ^ a b c 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. arrotar
15. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. arrotar
16. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. arrotar
17. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. arrotar