beijar

Forms

beijar (first-person singular present beijo, first-person singular preterite beijei, past participle beijado)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote beijar and beyjar in the 13th century and beyiar in the 14th.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin bāsiō (“to kiss”), written Old Galician-Portuguese beijar and Old Galician-Portuguese beyjar in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1] In the 15th century the infinitive was also used as a noun, “a kiss”.^[2]

The same Latin verb is Galician beixar, Spanish besar, Catalan besar, Occitan baisar, French baiser and Italian baciare.^[5][6][1]

The Latin verb is formed from bāsium (“a kiss”).^[7][1] The noun appears relatively late in Latin, first with an erotic sense beside ōsculum, which is why classical prose avoided it;^[8][9] Catullus seems to have brought it into the written language, and a Celtic origin has been suggested.^[8][9] It is this word, not the older one, that lived on in the Romance languages.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the verb to the 13th century.^[2][3] The Cantigas de Santa Maria use it for kisses of devotion: a pilgrim kneels before the Holy Sepulchre and kisses it (en el beijasse), and others go to kiss the feet of the image of the Virgin (beijar... os pees da Majestade).^[10] The Miragres de Santiago have a pilgrim who wants to kiss the saint's feet (quisolle beijar os pees).^[10]

Semantic evolution

The medieval records are mostly kisses of reverence, on feet, altars and the ground.^[10] Machado quotes a 14th-century text in which Arthur kneels before the king and kisses his foot.^[4] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines the verb as putting the mouth to something in sign of friendship, love, respect or veneration, as one kisses a cross or a relic.^[11] Morais (1813) adds the figurative use of the sea that “kisses” the shore.^[12] The original Caldas Aulete records beijo-vos as mãos “I kiss your hands”, a formula of thanks or respectful friendship.^[13]

Modern dictionaries extend the sense “touch lightly” to a breeze or a hem brushing something, to a place lying right next to another, and, jokingly, to bumping into something; sailors use it of a block or rope brought right up against its place.^[2][14] The derivatives beijoca “a smacking kiss” and beijocar are recorded from 1813, beijoqueiro “fond of kissing” from 1899.^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, spelt beijar and beyjar.^[2][3]
• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria use the verb for kissing the Holy Sepulchre and the feet of an image.^[10]
• 14th century – the spelling beyiar.^[2]
• c. 1400 – the earliest record in the CTA prose corpus, a fragment of a Flos Sanctorum (witness 1380–1425).^[15]
• 15th century – the infinitive also used as a noun.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses the verb with Latin osculor.^[16]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as a sign of friendship, love, respect or veneration.^[11]
• 1813 – Morais records the figurative use; first records of beijoca and beijocar.^[12][3]
• 1899 – first record of beijoqueiro.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To kiss; to touch with the lips in love, friendship, greeting or respect;^[2][14][1] (reflexive) to kiss each other: Beijou a avó antes de partir.^[2][14][1]
2. To touch lightly, to brush: A espuma beijava-lhe os pés.^[2][17]
3. To bow down until touching (the ground), in humility.^[2][14]
4. (figurative) To lie right next to, to border.^[2][18]
5. (informal, humorous) To bump into, crash into.^[2]
6. (nautical) To bring (a block, a sheet or a halyard) right up to its place;^[2] a beijar “as far as it goes”.^[2]

Word family

• beija-flor
• beija-mão

Related words

• beijo
• beijoca
• beijocar
• beijoqueiro
• ósculo
• Latin basio
• Galician beixar
• Spanish besar

Usage notes

In boxing, beijar a lona “to kiss the canvas” is to be knocked down.^[19]

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 i j k l m n o p Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. beijar
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. beijar
4. ^ a b Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. beijar
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. basiare
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. basiare
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. bāsiō
8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. baiser
9. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. basio
10. ^ 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. beijar
11. ^ 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. beijar
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 274
13. ^ 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. beijar
14. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. beijar
15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. beijar
16. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. beijar
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. beijar
18. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1329
19. ^ 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. beijar