bem

Forms

bem (comparable, comparative melhor or mais bem, superlative o melhor or o mais bem)^[1] Houaiss records bem and be in the 13th century, and the plural bejs in 1264.^[2] Machado notes an archaic two-syllable form, written bẽe (plural beẽs in 1305).^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin bene (“well”), written Old Galician-Portuguese ben in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin adverb belongs to bonus (“good”), the source of bom; the noun “good, property” is the adverb used as a noun, as in the other Romance languages.^[2][5]

The same Latin word is Galician ben, Spanish bien, Catalan bé, Occitan ben, French bien, Italian bene and Romanian bine.^[5][1]

The Latin adverb continues an Old Latin ablative *duenēd, from duenos (“good”), the older form of the adjective; de Vaan and Corominas explain that the following e kept the first vowel of the adverb from changing to o, as it did in the adjective.^[6][7] The Proto-Italic adjective is *dweno-; its further origin is uncertain.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's earliest records of the adverb are que amo e quero ben “whom I love and hold dear” (1253–54?) and bẽ sóó pagado “I am well paid” (1260); Machado's is Tenho por bem e mando “I think it good and order” (1305).^[8][3] Houaiss dates the noun to 1264, from Cunha's medieval index.^[2] In the cantigas the noun means virtue, happiness, favour and love, and Fernan Gonçalvez de Seavra writes Non cuydey eu a desejar / uosso bem a uosso pesar “I did not think to desire your favour against your will”.^[8][3]

Semantic evolution

The troubadours used ben as an adverb meaning “much, very” before adjectives and participles (ben talhada “well shaped”), and as a noun for happiness, favour and love, also as a term of endearment.^[8] A medieval chronicle uses the noun for property and spiritual goods, and a text of 1305 already has the plural for property.^[9][3] Machado dates the conjunction bem como “just as” to the 15th century.^[3]

Morais (1789) defines the adverb as “in a good way, with goodness, regularly” and notes its use before quantities, bem três annos “a good three years”.^[10] Vieira (1871) treats the noun as what is useful, advantageous and pleasant, and in philosophy the perfection of being.^[11] Today it also means a beloved person (o meu bem) and, in law, any object of value that can be owned.^[12][13] As a first element it forms many compounds, written bem- or ben-: bem-aventurado, bem-estar, benquisto.^[3][14]

Timeline

• 1253–54? – que amo e quero ben; 1260 bẽ sóó pagado.^[8]
• 1264 – first record of the noun, in the plural bejs.^[2]
• 13th century – the noun bem in the lyric of Fernan Gonçalvez de Seavra.^[3]
• 1305 – Tenho por bem e mando; the plural beẽs “goods”.^[3]
• 1350 – the Trasladação de S. Nicolau is the first text of the CTA corpus with the word.^[15]
• 15th century – first record of bem como “just as”.^[3]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary renders it by Latin bene and belle.^[16]
• 1789 – Morais describes its use before numbers and adjectives.^[10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. well: in a good, right or suitable way; competently: Ele desenha bem.^[12][1][17]
2. In good health; comfortably: Hoje sinto-me bem.^[1][17]
3. Clearly, distinctly: Daqui não se ouve bem.^[17]
4. Fairly, justly, correctly.^[1][17]
5. Very, quite, a good deal: O exame foi bem difícil.^[18][17][1]
6. (Brazil) Exactly, right: bem no meio.^[17][1]

Noun

1. o bem: the good, what is morally right, as opposed to evil; virtue.^[12][13][1]
2. Benefit, well-being, happiness: Faço-o para o teu bem.^[12][13]
3. A beloved person: o meu bem.^[12][18][14]
4. (chiefly in the plural, law) Property, possessions, goods; any thing of value that can be owned.^[12][18]

Interjection

1. Well: used to show approval or to introduce what follows.^[1][19]

Adjective

1. (informal, invariable) Of high society, socially smart.^[12][18]

Word family

• bem-vindo
• bem-estar
• bem-aventurado
• bem-fazer
• benquerer
• benquisto
• parabéns

Related words

• benfeitor
• bom
• também
• Latin bene
• Galician ben
• Spanish bien

Usage notes

Houaiss enters a separate noun bem (ben in 1871), the oil of the seeds of trees of the genus Moringa, used as a purgative, in perfumery and as a lubricant; it is from Arabic bān, the name of the seed, and is first recorded in Vieira's dictionary of 1871.^[2][20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. bem
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. bem
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 67
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1028
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. bien
8. ^ 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. ben
9. ^ 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. bem
10. ^ 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, 177
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, 752
12. ^ a b c d e f g 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. bem
13. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. bem
14. ^ 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. bem
15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. bem
16. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. bem
17. ^ a b c d e f 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. bem
18. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1339
19. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 184
20. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. ben