cómodo

Forms

cómodo (feminine cómoda, masculine plural cómodos, feminine plural cómodas)^[1] Since the spelling reform Brazil writes cômodo, with a closed vowel, and Portugal cómodo.^[2][3] Until the 20th century the word was spelt commodo, with the double consonant of Latin: so in a text of 1582, in Bluteau, in Morais and in Vieira.^[4][5][6][7]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin commodus (“suitable, convenient, advantageous”).^[4][8][1] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word.^[9]

The same Latin word was borrowed as Spanish cómodo, French commode, Italian comodo and Catalan còmode.^[10][11][1] The Latin adjective is formed from com- and modus (“measure, manner”),^[1] and first meant “of due or full measure”, hence “fit, proper, suitable”.^[12][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha's first record, of the 15th century, has the senses “useful” and “advantageous”; the sense “suitable, proper” follows in the 18th century.^[8] Houaiss's earliest dated text is of 1582, spelt commodo.^[4] The adverb, as cõmodamẽte, is recorded from the 16th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) enters the word only as a noun, an easy means to do something, and records the phrase com vosso commodo “at your convenience”.^[5] Morais (1789) has both the noun, “ease; advantage”, and the adjective “apt, fit”, with casa commoda a house with every convenience and homem commodo a man who looks after his own comfort, or an easy, indulgent one.^[6] Vieira adds vida commoda, a quiet and pleasant life.^[7]

In Brazil the noun came to mean a room or division of a house and also the gait of a horse, both dated by Houaiss to 1895–1899.^[4] In Rio Grande do Sul a horse is said to be de bom cômodo or de mau cômodo, comfortable or uncomfortable to ride.^[13] In the Alentejo the noun names the group of farms that make up one holding.^[14][15] Modern dictionaries add pejorative senses of the adjective: too easy, of a moral attitude that avoids conflict.^[4][15]

Timeline

• 1400s – first records, as an adjective meaning “useful, advantageous”.^[8]
• 1500s – the adverb cõmodamẽte is recorded.^[8]
• 1582 – commodo in a text Houaiss dates to this year.^[4]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro glosses Commodo with Latin utilitas “usefulness”.^[16]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records com vosso commodo “at your convenience”.^[5]
• 1700s – first record of the sense “suitable, proper”.^[8]
• 1789 – Morais has casa commoda and homem commodo.^[6]
• 1895–1899 – the Brazilian senses “room of a house” and “gait of a horse”.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Well suited to its use; convenient, practical.^[4][14][2]
2. Easy, free of obstacles or difficulty.^[4][15]
3. comfortable, pleasant; giving a feeling of well-being.^[4][14][1]
4. (pejorative) Too easy: of an attitude or behaviour that avoids effort, conflict or commitment.^[4][15]
5. Calm, quiet;^[4][17] (pejorative) too indulgent.^[4][17]
6. Of a price: reasonable, within the reach of many.^[2][15]

Noun

1. comfort, convenience (comodidade); what makes life easier or pleasant.^[4][14][1]
2. (Brazil) A room or division of a house.^[4][17][1]
3. Lodging, accommodation; hospitality.^[4][17][14]
4. Employment, a place (of a servant).^[14][2][1]
5. (Brazil) The gait of a horse.^[4][13]
6. (Portugal, Alentejo) A group of farms given to one crop or one holding.^[4][14]

Word family

• comodamente
• comodidade
• incómodo

Related words

• acomodar
• Latin commodus
• Spanish cómodo
• French commode

Usage notes

The phrase a cômodo or a seu cômodo means “at one's ease, undisturbed”.^[4][17]

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 Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. cómodo
3. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2252
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cômodo
5. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cómmodo
6. ^ a b c 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, 292
7. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 317
8. ^ 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. cômodo
9. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. cômodo
10. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cómodo
11. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. commode
12. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. commodus
13. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. cômodo
14. ^ 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. cómodo
15. ^ a b c d e 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. cômodo
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. commodo
17. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cômodo