comunicativo

Forms

comunicativo (feminine comunicativa, masculine plural comunicativos, feminine plural comunicativas)^[1] The older spelling with double m, communicativo, is recorded in the 15th century and in 1563.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin commūnicātīvus (“fit for communicating, communicative”), first recorded in the 15th century.^[3][2][4] Nascentes calls it semi-learned, and DELPo places the Latin word in Medieval Latin.^[5][6] Priberam and Michaelis analyse it instead as comunicar with the suffix -ivo.^[7][8] The same Latin word gives Spanish comunicativo.^[9]

Du Cange records the Medieval Latin adjective for a person who readily shares his goods.^[10] It is built on commūnicō (“to share, communicate”), which Wiktionary derives from commūnis (“common, public, general”) with the suffix -icō.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to the 15th century, from Cunha's records, and gives a dated form communicativo of 1563.^[3] Cunha also has the spelling with double m in the 15th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The old Caldas Aulete gives two senses: “easily passed on, contagious”, as of an illness or a joy, and “open, frank, ready to say what one thinks and feels”, the second illustrated from Machado de Assis.^[11] Aurélio has the same pair, illustrating the contagious sense with a general laugh in Aluísio Azevedo's O Cortiço.^[4] Houaiss puts first the senses “relating to communication” and “usable for communication”, as in meios comunicativos.^[3] The old Aulete and Priberam record tinta comunicativa, a copying ink.^[11][7]

Timeline

• 1400s – first records, also spelt communicativo.^[3][2]
• 1563 – the form communicativo.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to or involving comunicação; usable for communication.^[3][11]
2. communicative: ready and able to express oneself; sociable (sociável), outgoing (expansivo).^{[3][4][12][1]}
3. Talkative, fond of conversation.^[3][11][12]
4. Easily passed on or spread; contagious, as of laughter or a mood.^{[3][4][8][13]}

Related words

• comunicar
• comunicação
• comum
• Latin commūnicō
• Spanish comunicativo

Usage notes

Tinta comunicativa was an ink used for taking copies in mechanical copying presses.^[11][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. comunicativo
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. comunicativo
4. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. comunicativo
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. comunicativo
6. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. comunicativo
7. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. comunicativo
8. ^ 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. comunicativo
9. ^ 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. comunicativo
10. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre, p. s.v. communicativus
11. ^ 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. comunicativo
12. ^ a b 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. comunicativo
13. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2283