beber

Forms

beber (first-person singular present bebo, first-person singular preterite bebi, past participle bebido)^[1] The medieval form was bever beside beber.^[2][3] Nascentes quotes nem por lhe dar de comer nem de bever from the legend of the Dama Pé de Cabra.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin bibō (“to drink”), written Old Galician-Portuguese beber and Old Galician-Portuguese bever in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Machado thinks the modern form with -b- may have been restored on the Latin model, the old form having -v-.^[3] Nascentes reports that Cornu saw in the initial b- an assimilation or a restoration of the Latin b-, while Nunes took the form with -v- for a dissimilated one.^[4]

The same Latin verb is Galician beber, Spanish beber, Catalan beure, Occitan beure, French boire, Italian bere and Romanian bea.^[5][1] The medieval Spanish form was likewise Old Spanish bever.^[6]

The Latin verb comes from *pibō, from Proto-Indo-European *píph₃eti, a reduplicated present “to drink”.^[1][7] De Vaan explains the initial b- of the Latin verb as an assimilation to the inner -b-.^[7] Cognates include Sanskrit पिबति (píbati) and Ancient Greek πίνω (pī́nō).^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machado quotes a 13th-century cantiga of Alfonso X with the old form: por ti bevo, nen qu ia bevi “that I drink for you, nor that I have drunk”.^[3] The Miragres de Santiago have comer et beber and Este nũca bebeo vino nẽ sidra “this one never drank wine or cider”.^[9] The sense was to drink a liquid.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The infinitive was used as a noun already in the Historia Troiana (os beberes “the drinks”), and is still a noun in the Portuguese of Portugal.^[9][10] Figurative senses are old: João de Barros in the 16th century writes of a river that the earth drinks up before it reaches the sea.^[3][11] Morais in 1813 records beber lágrimas, to hold back tears in grief.^[12] The verb came to mean to drink alcohol, especially to excess, to spend one's money on drink, and to drink a toast.^[2][13] Other senses are to absorb a liquid, to take in knowledge, and to suffer an affront; in Brazil, of a car, to use a lot of fuel.^[2][14]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, as beber and bever;^[2][3] Alfonso X has bevo and bevi in a cantiga.^[2][3]
• 14th century – os beberes “the drinks” in the Historia Troiana.^[9]
• 1491 – beber in the Vida de Santo Elói.^[15]
• 16th century – João de Barros has the earth drinking up a river.^[3]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates it with Latin bibo and poto.^[16]
• 1813 – Morais records beber lágrimas.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To drink a liquid: Bebeu dois copos de sumo.^[2][17][1]
2. (intransitive) To drink alcohol, especially habitually or to excess: Ele já não bebe.^[2][18][1]
3. To drink a toast: beber à saúde dos noivos.^[2][13]
4. To spend money or goods on drink.^[2][14]
5. To absorb a liquid: O pano bebeu a água toda.^[2][18]
6. (figurative) To take in eagerly; to learn, to take in knowledge from a source.^[2][14]
7. (figurative) To suffer, to put up with; to hold back a pain.^[2][10]
8. (Brazil, informal) Of a vehicle, to use a lot of fuel.^[2]

Noun

1. (Portugal) A drink, something to drink.^[10]

Word family

• bebida
• bebedor
• bebedouro
• beberrão

Related words

• bêbedo
• bêbado
• embeber
• Latin bibō
• Spanish beber

Usage notes

Beber os ares por alguém is to be very fond of or in love with someone.^[2][19] Beber do fino is to be well informed about things the public does not know.^[19]

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 n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. beber
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. beber
4. ^ 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. 66
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1074
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 552
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. bibō
9. ^ a b c d Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. beber
10. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1322
11. ^ 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, 746
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 273
13. ^ 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. beber
14. ^ a b c 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. beber
15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. beber
16. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. beber
17. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. beber
18. ^ 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. beber
19. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. beber