compor

Forms

compor (first-person singular present componho, first-person singular preterite compus, past participle composto)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote conpoer (1277), compoer and cõpõer (14th century); Cunha records compõer and compoer in the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin compōnō (“to put together, arrange”), written Old Galician-Portuguese compõer and Old Galician-Portuguese conpoer in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Nascentes too derives the modern verb through that archaic form.^[4]

The same Latin verb is Galician compor, Spanish componer, Catalan compondre and Italian comporre.^[5][6][1] French composer, for its part, was refashioned after poser.^[7]

The Latin verb is formed from con- (“together”) and pōnō (“to put, place”).^[8][1] Wiktionary takes the simple verb back to Proto-Italic *pozinō, a compound of *po (“off, away”) and *sinō (“to put in place”).^[1] De Vaan gives the same analysis, from an older *po-sinō (“to put down, place”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is legal: a charter of Portel of 1277 binds a party to pay compensation, quanto demandar tanto a uos conponha en dobro “whatever he claims, let him pay it to you twice over”.^[10][2] The sense “to make good a wrong by payment” is that of Medieval Latin.^[11] The Cantigas de Santa Maria already use the verb for making and creating things: fez compõer un'arca “had an ark made” and foi compõer cinque salmos “went and composed five psalms”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Medieval texts use the verb for building, preparing and writing: the Crónica Geral of 1344 says of a work que conposo esta estoria “who composed this history”, and also has conpoer for getting ready for battle; a satirical cantiga has compoer requezas “to gather riches”.^[13][14]

Morais (1813) lists the senses “to put together the parts of an ordered whole” (a book, verses), “to set the type in the composing stick”, “to settle (a quarrel)”, “to put in order (the hair)”, “to reconcile” and “to make amends”.^[15] The typographer's componedor “composing stick” is recorded in 1813.^[3] Houaiss adds the musical sense “to write music”, and the senses “to repair” and “to put on (an expression)”.^[2] In southern Brazil the verb also means “to tidy, to mend” and “to train a racehorse”, a sense shared with the River Plate.^[16] In Portugal the dialects use it for setting a broken or dislocated bone and for dressing flax.^[17]

Timeline

• 1277 – conponha in a charter of Portel.^[2][10]
• 13th century – compõer in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[12][3]
• 1344 – the Crónica Geral has conpoer and conposo.^[13]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates compor as Latin compono and concinno.^[18]
• 1611 – Barbosa gives Latin equivalents for composing a commentary and verses.^[19]
• 1813 – Morais records the printing sense; the same year componedor and compositor are first recorded.^[15][3]
• 1873 – first record of componente.^[3]
• 1899 – Figueiredo lists thirteen senses, from “to form of several things” to “to calm”.^[20]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To make up, constitute; to be the parts of a whole: Onze jogadores compõem a equipa.^[2][21][1]
2. (transitive) To form or build out of several parts or elements: compor um ramo de flores.^[2][22][23]
3. (transitive) To create a work of the mind or of art; to write: compor um soneto.^[2][24][1]
4. (music) To write music: Ela compõe desde os doze anos.^[2][25]
5. (printing) To typeset: to set the type or characters of a text for printing.^[2][24]
6. (transitive) To repair, mend: mandar compor os sapatos.^[2][23]
7. (transitive) To put in order, arrange; to straighten (clothes, hair).^[2][24][23]
8. (transitive) To reconcile, settle (a dispute, opponents).^[24][25]
9. (transitive) To put on (an expression or air) on purpose: compor um ar sério.^[2][24]
10. (pronominal) To consist of: O livro compõe-se de três partes.^[2][25]
11. (pronominal) To come to terms; to resign oneself.^[24][25]

Word family

• componedor
• composto
• compostura
• descompor
• descompostura
• recompor
• componível

Related words

• pôr
• componente
• composição
• compositor
• compósito
• Spanish componer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. compor
3. ^ 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. compor
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. compor
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2103
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b 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. dobro
11. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
12. ^ a b 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. compõer
13. ^ a b 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. conpoer
14. ^ 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. compoer
15. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 429
16. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. compor
17. ^ 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. compor
18. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. compor
19. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. compor
20. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 323
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. compor
22. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. compor
23. ^ a b c 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. compor
24. ^ a b c d e f Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. compor
25. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2269