aspecto

Forms

aspecto m (plural aspectos)^[1] The older form was aspeito (1344), also aspeyto in the 14th century.^[2][3] The form aspecto appears in the 15th century according to Houaiss and in the 16th according to Cunha.^[2][3] Since the 1990 spelling agreement Portugal writes aspeto, while Brazil keeps aspecto.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin aspectus (“the act of looking; sight; appearance”), a learned word.^[2][3][1][6] Nascentes says that it came through the old form Old Galician-Portuguese aspeito, which was then remade on the Latin spelling.^[6] Wiktionary instead has the learned form displacing the older one.^[6][1] Nascentes's fuller dictionary notes that Camões still uses the old form in Os Lusíadas.^[7] Houaiss puts the grammatical sense “verbal aspect” down to the influence of French aspect, recorded in that sense in 1828.^[2]

The Latin noun is formed on aspiciō (“to look at”),^[8][1] and the verb on ad- and speciō (“to see, observe”).^[9][1] De Vaan traces this verb to Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”), the root of Sanskrit पश्यति (páśyati, “sees”).^[10][1] The same Latin word gave Spanish aspecto, Italian aspetto and Catalan aspecte.^[11][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, of 1344, is the form aspeito, and his oldest sense is “the act of being seen”.^[2] The Corte Imperial, which Machado places with a query in the 14th century, describes a venerable face de tal aspeito que aquelles que o oolhassem, bem o poderiam amar e temer “of such an aspect that those who looked at it could well love and fear him”.^[12] Machado's first example of aspecto comes from statutes printed in 1540.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau gives the word as “countenance, look”, as in moço de bom aspecto, and as a term of astronomy and astrology for the relative positions of the planets: the trine, square and sextile aspects and the opposition.^[13] Morais in 1813 lists aspeito as an antiquated word, with the further senses “regard, consideration” and “sight, presence” in the Ordenações Afonsinas.^[14] Houaiss dates the linguistic sense to the 19th century.^[2] Aurélio's first edition of 1975 already has the sense “each side from which a thing can be seen or considered”.^[15]

Timeline

• 1344 – first record, spelt aspeito.^[2]
• 14th century – the spelling aspeyto.^[2]
• 15th century – aspecto appears, according to Houaiss.^[2]
• c. 1525 – aspecto in the Memorial da Infanta Santa Joana.^[16]
• 1540 – aspectos in printed statutes, Machado's first example of the learned form.^[12]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives the astrological sense.^[13]
• 1813 – Morais marks aspeito as antiquated.^[14]
• 19th century – the linguistic sense “verbal aspect”.^[2]
• 20th century – first record of aspectual.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. appearance, look; the way someone or something presents itself to the eye: Depois da viagem, ela tinha um aspecto abatido.^[2][17][1]
2. The outward look of things: O bolo tinha um aspecto delicioso.^[2][17]
3. Countenance, mien (semblante).^[4][18]
4. A side or facet from which something can be considered; an aspect, angle: Discutimos cada aspecto do contrato.^[2][17][1]
5. (linguistics) grammatical aspect, the category that expresses the internal temporal structure of an action or state.^[2][17]
6. (astronomy, astrology) The relative position of the planets.^[5][18]
7. (formal, rare) The act of being seen.^[2]

Word family

• aspectual

Related words

• Latin aspectus
• Spanish aspecto

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 o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. aspecto
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. aspecto
4. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 994
5. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. aspecto
6. ^ a b c Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. aspecto
7. ^ 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. 48
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. aspectus
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. aspiciō
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. aspecto
12. ^ a b c Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. aspecto
13. ^ 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. aspecto
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 204
15. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda (1975), Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, p. 170
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. aspecto
17. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. aspecto
18. ^ a b 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. aspecto