compadre

Forms

compadre m (plural compadres, feminine comadre, feminine plural comadres)^[1] The oldest texts write conpadre.^[2][3] Houaiss's first record of the spelling compadre is of 1344.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin compater (“one who shares in fatherhood; consort”), written Old Galician-Portuguese conpadre in the oldest texts.^[2][1][4] The Late Latin word is formed from com- (“with, together”) and pater (“father”).^[1][5] Nascentes explains it as “the one who is father jointly”: the godfather is the child's spiritual father beside the natural one.^[6]

The same Latin word is Galician compadre, Spanish compadre, Catalan compare, Old Occitan compaire, French compère and Italian compare.^[7][1] The Latin word for father goes back to Proto-Italic *patēr and Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria of the second half of the 13th century speak of a man who had a cleric as his conpadre (aquest'ome un conpadre seu / crerig'avia) and of another whose conpadre became his adviser.^[3] Houaiss dates both the godparent sense and the extended sense of a friend or companion to the 13th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word names the bond that baptism creates between the father of a child and its godfather, each being the other's compadre, as the feminine comadre does for the women.^[2][9] Bluteau (1712) defines it as the godmother's companion at the font and lists proverbs such as Quem bem me faz, elle he meu Compadre “whoever does me good is my compadre”.^[10] Morais (1789) adds estar compadre com alguém “to be on close terms with someone”.^[11] Gil Vicente's characters already greet each other with it, and Vieira (1871–1874) describes it as a familiar name for men one deals with every day.^[12]

From friendship the word passed to complicity: a compadre is also one of the people in a plot, and the old Caldas Aulete has negócio de compadres, a deal settled by favour rather than fairness.^[2][13][14] The old Aulete also records the central character of a theatre revue, a role more often called by the French word compère.^[13][5] In Portugal, and especially in the Alentejo, it also names the father of one's son- or daughter-in-law.^[14][15][16] Brazil gave it new senses: in the candomblé of Bahia, the Exu who guards the house; a bed urinal for men; and in Rio Grande do Sul, as an adjective, “conceited”.^{[2][9][17][14]} The word passed into Nheengatu as kumpa.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century – conpadre in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[3][2]
• 1344 – first record of the spelling compadre.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary renders it with Latin compater.^[18]
• 1611 – Barbosa adds compadrado, the bond between compadres.^[19]
• 1712 – Bluteau lists proverbs about the compadre.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais records estar compadre com alguém.^[11]
• 1899 – Figueiredo lists the sense “a party to a plot”.^[20]

Meanings

Noun

1. The godfather of a child, as seen by the child's parents: Escolheram o vizinho para compadre.^[2][9][1]
2. The father of a child, as seen by its godfather (padrinho) or godmother (madrinha).^[2][9][1]
3. The father of one's son-in-law or daughter-in-law; consogro.^[14][5][1]
4. (informal) A close friend or companion; a friendly form of address to a neighbour or acquaintance.^[2][9][1]
5. (derogatory) A crony: one of the people involved in a shady arrangement.^[2][14]
6. A shrewd, cunning person.^[2][21]
7. (theatre) The central character of a revista who links its scenes.^[5][22]
8. (Brazil, religion) In the candomblé of Bahia, the Exu that protects the house.^[2][9][17]
9. (Brazil) A bed urinal for men; patinho.^[2][9]

Adjective

1. (Rio Grande do Sul) conceited, full of oneself.^[2][14]

Related words

• padre
• comadre
• pai
• padrinho
• Latin pater
• Spanish compadre

Usage notes

Bluteau's proverb Do paõ de meu Compadre grande pedaço a meu afilhado “from my compadre's bread a big piece for my godson” is said of people who are generous with other people's goods.^[10][13] Compadre is also a Portuguese surname, at first a nickname.^[23]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 q Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. compadre
3. ^ 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. compadre
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. compadre
5. ^ 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. compadre
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 130
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2096
8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. pater
9. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. compadre
10. ^ 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. compadre
11. ^ 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, 294
12. ^ 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, 340
13. ^ a b c 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. compadre
14. ^ a b c d e f Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. compadre
15. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. compadre
16. ^ 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. compadre
17. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. compadre
18. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. compadre
19. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. compadre
20. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 321
21. ^ 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. compadre
22. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2255
23. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1952), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 2: Nomes próprios, Rio de Janeiro, p. s.v. compadre