codicilo

Forms

codicilo m (plural codicilos)^[1] The medieval records show codiçillo (1302), codeçildo (1338), codescillo (1362), codicilho (1460) and caudyzelo (1486).^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōdicillus (“small log; writing tablets; codicil”), the diminutive of cōdex (“trunk; book”).^[2][3][1][4] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word, and in his fuller dictionary notes that the Latin sense “small codex” was narrowed to the legal one.^[5][6]

In Latin the word first meant a small log, then (in the plural) a set of writing tablets, and also a short written note or will.^[7] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of caudex (“tree trunk; wooden tablets forming a book”), which he reconstructs as *kaudek-, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂u-d- (“cleaved, separate”).^[8] Wiktionary considers the origin of that noun uncertain, perhaps related to cūdō (“to beat, strike”).^[1] The same Latin word gives Spanish codicilo and French codicille.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from 1302, as codiçillo, in the legal sense it still has.^[2][3] Cunha glosses the early sense as a written act of last will, a testament.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Portuguese law the word names a simpler instrument than a will, by which a person settles the funeral, small alms and the bequest of personal belongings, or appoints an executor.^[2][9] The old Caldas Aulete defines it as an addition to or alteration of a will made by the testator with certain formalities, and quotes Camilo's Enjeitada.^[10] Aurélio marks the sense “alteration or annulment of a will by additional dispositions” as old, while the DLP, Priberam and Michaelis give it as the main sense today.^{[9][11][12][13]} The DLP and Porto Editora also keep the Latin sense “small codex”.^[11][14]

Timeline

• 1302 – first record, spelt codiçillo.^[2]
• 1338 – codeçildo; 1362, codescillo.^[2]
• 1460 – codicilho; 1486, caudyzelo.^[2]
• 1955 – Nascentes explains the legal sense as a narrowing of “small codex”.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) A written act of last will, simpler than a testamento, in which a person gives instructions for the funeral (enterro), small alms and the bequest of personal belongings of little value, or names an executor (testamenteiro).^[2][9][10]
2. (law) A codicil: a document added to a will that adds to, changes or clarifies its provisions without revoking it.^{[11][13][12][1]}
3. (rare) A small códice.^[11][14]

Related words

• códice
• código
• Latin cōdex
• Spanish codicilo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. codicilo
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. codicilo
4. ^ a b 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. codicilo
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. codicilo
6. ^ 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. 125
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. codicilo
10. ^ 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. codicilo
11. ^ a b c d 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. codicilo
12. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. codicilo
13. ^ 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. codicilo
14. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2181