condição

Forms

condição f (plural condições)^[1] Medieval spellings include condison (1259), condeçõ (1262), cõdycooes (1292) and condiçoees (1391); a letter of 1554 writes cudicão.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin condiciō (“agreement, stipulation; condition”), also spelt conditiō in later Latin.^[2][1][4] Nascentes calls it semi-learned.^[5] The Latin word meant a formula of agreement between two people, a pact, especially of marriage, and hence the position resulting from it and a state or situation in general; in the language of the Church it could also mean servitude.^[2] The spelling with ⟨ti⟩ arose because ⟨ti⟩ and ⟨ci⟩ came to be pronounced alike.^[1]

The Latin noun is formed from condīcō (“to agree upon, fix”), from con- and dīcō (“to say”).^[2][1][6] The DHLF analyses it instead as com- with diciō (“formula of command, authority”), of the same root.^[7]

The same Latin word was taken as Spanish condición, first recorded in 1219, and as French condition in the 12th century.^[8][7][1] Compare Galician condición, Italian condizione and Catalan condició.^[8][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to 1259, spelt condison, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese.^[2] A notarial register of Noia in Galicia has both main medieval senses in 1390: a lease made cõ tal condiçõ que uós (...) ponades o dito terreo per uosa custa de bjña “on condition that you plant the said land with vines at your own cost”, and heirs who must not be de mayor estado ou señorío ou condiçõ que uós “of higher estate, lordship or rank than you”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 has com tal condição “on such condition”, sem condição “unconditionally”, and condição de pessoa for a person's nature or temper, as in homem de boa condição.^[10] Vieira defines it as a physical or moral state and as the clause of a contract, quoting Gil Vicente.^[11] The old Aulete gives first the social class one belongs to, with pessoa de condição “a noble person”.^[12]

Modern senses include the state of a thing or person, often in the plural (em boas condições), the circumstances on which an event depends, a requirement or clause imposed in an agreement, and, informally, a person's state of health and a chance or possibility.^[2][13][4] Logic and mathematics distinguish the necessary from the sufficient condition, and condição sine qua non is an indispensable one.^[4][14]

Timeline

• 1259 – first record, spelt condison.^[2]
• 1271 – the plural condições.^[2]
• 1390 – cõ tal condiçõ and condiçõ “rank” in the notarial register of Noia.^[9]
• 1554 – a private letter writes cudicão.^[3]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists com tal condição and condição de pessoa.^[10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira defines it as a physical or moral state and a clause of contract.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The nature or character of a thing or person: a condição humana.^[2][13]
2. The state of a person or thing, often in the plural: o carro ainda está em boas condições.^[2][13][1]
3. A person's status with regard to origin, social position or profession; social class: gente de condição humilde.^[2][13][14]
4. The situation or circumstances at a given moment, often in the plural.^[2][14]
5. A position, good or bad, in a deal or negotiation.^[2]
6. A circumstance that determines whether or how something happens: as condições do tempo.^[2][4]
7. (logic) A necessary antecedent, without which an event does not occur.^[2][4]
8. An obligation or clause (cláusula) imposed or accepted in an agreement; a condition.^[2][13][1]
9. (informal) A chance, possibility.^[2]
10. (informal) State of health.^[2]
11. Rank, distinction: pessoa de condição “a person of quality”.^[13][12]

Word family

• condicionar

Related words

• condicional
• dizer
• Latin condiciō
• Spanish condición

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 r Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. condição
3. ^ 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. condição
4. ^ 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. condição
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. condição
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. condiciō
7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. condition
8. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 170
9. ^ 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. condiçon
10. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. condição
11. ^ a b 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, 385
12. ^ 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. condição
13. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. condição
14. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2312