assalto

Forms

assalto m (plural assaltos)^[1] The first record, about 1539, is spelt asalto;^[2] assalto appears in 1566.^[2]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2] Many dictionaries make it a back-formation from Portuguese assaltar (“to assault”).^[2][3][4][5] Machado instead takes it from Italian assalto, which is recorded from the 13th century.^[6][2] Houaiss notes a third view, which derives it from Latin adsaltus, a form of assultus (“a leap upon, an attack”).^[2] Silva Bastos and Vieira derived it from Late Latin assaltus.^[7][8] The noun is recorded before the verb, which Houaiss and Cunha first date to 1572.^[2][9][10]

The verb is derived by Cunha from *assaltō, a form of assultō (“to leap at, attack”) built on saltō (“to jump”); others form it in Portuguese from saltar with the prefix a-, or from the noun.^[10][9] The Italian noun goes back to the same noun in Vulgar Latin, taken from the participle of *assaliō (“to jump upon”).^[11] The same family is French assaut, Catalan assalt and Spanish asalto.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is a text of about 1539, with the spelling asalto.^[2] Machado quotes the Lusíadas (IX, 72): Como que assalto tal nam esperauão “as though they did not expect such an assault”.^[6] In both the word is a sudden military attack.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the word was used of an attack on a fortified place;^[12] Folqman (1755) gives dar assalto a huma praça “to storm a stronghold” and tomar por assalto “to take by storm”.^[12] Morais (1789) adds the figurative os assaltos da consciência “the pangs of conscience”, and in 1813 the attack of wild beasts or robbers on travellers.^[13][14] Vieira (1871–1874) records a bout in fencing and a board game like draughts.^[8] The sense “armed robbery” is the commonest today.^[2][3] Houaiss also records an informal sense, a surprise party held in someone's house, and Schlee records the same for Rio Grande do Sul as an old use.^[2][15] In Brazil the word is used figuratively for an exorbitant price.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1539 – first record, spelt asalto.^[2]
• 1566 – the spelling assalto.^[2]
• 1572 – assalto in the Lusíadas; the verb assaltar first recorded.^[6][10]
• 1611 – Barbosa translates it with Latin assultus.^[16]
• 1755 – Folqman has tomar huma praça por assalto.^[12]
• 1789 – Morais records the figurative os assaltos da consciência.^[13]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records the fencing sense.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. An assault, a sudden and violent attack.^[2][4][1]
2. A robbery or hold-up carried out by force or threat: Houve um assalto à farmácia ontem.^{[2][4][17][1]}
3. (military) A surprise attack on a position; the final phase of an attack.^[3][17]
4. A sudden fit of pain or of an emotion: um assalto de ciúme.^[2][4]
5. (informal) A surprise party held in someone's house.^[2]
6. (Brazil, informal, figurative) An exorbitant price, a rip-off.^[2]
7. (sports) A round of a boxing or wrestling bout; a bout in fencing.^[2][17][1]

Related words

• assaltar
• assaltante
• assaltada
• saltar
• salto
• Italian assalto
• Spanish asalto

Usage notes

Jogo do assalto is a board game like draughts, played with 24 pieces against two.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. assalto
3. ^ 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. assalto
4. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. assalto
5. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. assalto
6. ^ a b c d Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. assalto
7. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. assalto
8. ^ a b c 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, 610
9. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. assaltar
10. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. salso
11. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. assalto
12. ^ a b c Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. assalto
13. ^ 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, 129
14. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 206
15. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. assalto
16. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. assalto
17. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1001