colega

Forms

colega m or f by sense (plural colegas)^[1] Houaiss records collega in 1670, and Morais (1789) still heads the word collega.^[2][3] Figueiredo (1899) enters colega as the same as collega.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin collēga (“colleague, partner in office”).^[2][5][6][1] The Latin noun is formed from con- (“with”) and lēgō (“to appoint, delegate”) with the agent suffix -a.^[7][1] Lewis & Short explain it as “one who is chosen at the same time with another”.^[8] The same Latin word was borrowed as French collègue, before 1520.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A private letter of 1642 has the plural Colegas.^[10] Houaiss's first record is from 1650, in the sense of a person who belongs to the same body, community or profession as another.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) defines collega as a companion in the same college, corporation or office, and notes a special use among the Canons Regular, whose two collegas acted as secretaries of the Superior General.^[3] The original Caldas Aulete stresses learned and scientific societies and colleagues elected together.^[11] The sense “schoolmate” is now general, and the word is also a familiar term for a friend or mate.^[2][1] Priberam notes that soldiers prefer camarada for a comrade in arms.^[12] In Brazilian dialect surveys colega also names a hired day labourer in another man's field and the person who goes along with a courting couple.^[13]

Timeline

• 1642 – Colegas in a private letter.^[10]
• 1650 – Houaiss's first record.^[2]
• 1670 – the spelling collega.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais heads the word collega.^[3]
• 1899 – Figueiredo enters colega beside collega.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A colleague: a person who belongs to the same profession, body or workplace as another, or holds the same office: Os colegas do hospital despediram-se dela.^[2][6][14]
2. A schoolmate or classmate: colega de turma.^[2][6][14]
3. (informal) A friend, mate or companion.^[6][1]
4. A formal form of address between people of the same profession.^[6]

Word family

• coleguismo

Related words

• colégio
• Latin collēga
• French collègue

Usage notes

The noun is masculine or feminine according to the person: o colega, a colega.^[2][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. colega
3. ^ 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, 286
4. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 313
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. colega
6. ^ a b c d e 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. colega
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. collègue
10. ^ a b CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. colega
11. ^ 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. colega
12. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. colega
13. ^ 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. colega
14. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. colega