bestial

Forms

bestial m or f (plural bestiais)^[1] Houaiss records bestiaaes in the 14th century and bestial and bestiãs in the 15th;^[2][3][4] Cunha has bestyal in the 15th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin bēstiālis (“of a beast, brutal”), a learned word.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin adjective is formed from bēstia (“beast, animal”) and -ālis.^[1][6]

The popular outcomes of the Latin noun are besta “beast of burden”, from the Vulgar Latin form, and bicha.^[7][8] bicho continues bestius, a vulgar masculine form;^[9][10] Corominas thinks Spanish took the word from Portuguese.^[9][10]

The origin of the Latin noun is uncertain; de Vaan compares bēlua (“beast”).^[11] Wiktionary reports a proposed Proto-Indo-European *dʰwes- (“to breathe”), but calls it doubtful, since Latin would then be expected to have initial f-.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record, bestiaaes, to the 14th century, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese.^[2] The Horto do Esposo (witness of 1390–1437) has bestial.^[12] Machado quotes a 15th-century text he cites as Guiné: ca pois gente he, por muyto bestyal que seja “for they are people, however brutish they may be”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Camões wrote of gente bestial, bruta e malvada in the Lusíadas (canto V), a line Vieira quotes.^[13] Morais (1789) gives “of a beast” and, figuratively, “stupid, grossly mistaken”, as in bestiaes opiniões, and in 1813 adds peixes bestiaes, large sea animals such as the tuna and the whale.^[14][15] Houaiss's senses run from “of an animal” to cruelty, coarseness, immorality and repulsiveness.^[2]

In informal European Portuguese the word turned positive: it means “huge” and “excellent, terrific”, and is used as an interjection of approval.^[2][16][17] The TLPGP records the sense “marvellous” for Portugal.^[18]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record, spelt bestiaaes.^[2]
• 1390–1437 – bestial in the Horto do Esposo.^[12]
• 15th century – bestyal in the text Machado cites as Guiné.^[4][3]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses it ferinus, belluinus.^[19]
• 1789 – Morais records the figurative “stupid, grossly mistaken”.^[14]
• 1813 – Morais adds peixes bestiaes.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a besta (an animal).^[2][20]
2. Like an animal's; animal-like.^[2]
3. (figurative) savage, cruel, inhuman.^[2][21]
4. (figurative) Coarse, boorish, brutish.^[2][20][1]
5. Stupid, absurd; grossly mistaken.^[22][16]
6. Base, sordid, immoral; lacking all spirituality.^[2]
7. Repulsive, hideous.^[2][20]
8. (Portugal, informal) Enormous.^[2][17]
9. (Portugal, informal) Excellent, terrific: Foi um concerto bestial!^[2][16][1]

Interjection

1. (Portugal, informal) Expresses admiration or approval: “great!”.^[2][18]

Word family

• bestialidade

Related words

• besta
• bicha
• bicho
• Latin bēstia

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. bestial
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. besta
4. ^ a b c d e Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. bestial
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 69
6. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 187
7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. besta
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. bestia
9. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 580
10. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. bicho
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. bestial
13. ^ 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, 761
14. ^ 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, 180
15. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 279
16. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1361
17. ^ 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. bestial
18. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. bestial
19. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. bestial
20. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. bestial
21. ^ 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. bestial
22. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. bestial