cumprir

Forms

cumprir (first-person singular present cumpro, first-person singular preterite cumpri, past participle cumprido)^[1] Houaiss records cumprir before 1261, conpljr in 1264, cõprir in the 13th century and cumplir in 1331.^[2] The usual medieval form was comprir.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin compleō (“to fill up, complete”), written Old Galician-Portuguese comprir and Old Galician-Portuguese cumprir in the oldest texts.^[2][4][3] Wiktionary assumes a change of conjugation in Vulgar Latin, *compliō.^[1]

The Latin cluster pl- after a consonant normally gave ch- in Portuguese, as in encher from Latin impleō;^[1] Wiktionary finds the r in cumprir unusual and perhaps a conservative development.^[1] For Spanish cumplir the DCECH speaks of a semi-learned outcome.^[5] Nascentes explains the u of the first syllable from the forms stressed on the stem, such as the present tense; his earlier dictionary had suggested the forms stressed on the ending.^[6][7]

The same Latin verb is Galician cumprir, Catalan complir, Occitan complir, Old French complir (today French accomplir), Italian compiere and Aromanian cumpli.^[8][1] The Latin verb is a compound of con- and pleō (“to fill”).^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The will of Afonso II, of 1214, asks faza aquesta mia manda séér comprida “let him have this will of mine carried out”.^[3] A document of 1258–1261 has the infinitive: en guisa que possa comprir meu mandado “so that I may carry out my command”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The medieval verb meant “to carry out, fulfil”, “to satisfy” and “to complete”, and in the cantigas also “to be fitting, be needed”.^[3][10] That impersonal use lives on in cumpre “it is necessary”, and Pereira's dictionary of 1697 gives only the Latin oportet for it.^[2][11] The past participle of the old form, comprido, became the adjective “long” in the 16th century, with the noun comprimento “length”.^[4] Cumprimento, at first the act of fulfilling, came to mean a greeting.^[4] Feijó in 1734 still listed comprir beside cumprir.^[12]

Timeline

• 1214 – the participle comprida in the will of Afonso II.^[3]
• 1234–1236 – the perfect conprio in a Latin charter.^[3]
• 1258–1261 – the infinitive comprir.^[3]
• before 1261 – first record of the spelling cumprir.^[2]
• 1264 – conpljr.^[2][3]
• 13th century – comprir in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[3]
• 1331 – the spelling cumplir.^[2]
• 14th century – first record of cumpridor.^[4]
• 1534 – cõpyr and cumprir in a private letter.^[13]
• 16th century – comprido “long” and comprimento.^[4]
• 1697 – Pereira renders Cumprir by oportet.^[11]
• 1734 – Feijó lists Cumprir and Comprir.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To carry out, fulfil (an order, a promise, a law, a duty), also with com: Ela cumpriu tudo o que prometeu.^[2][14][1]
2. (pronominal) To come true; to take place: A profecia cumpriu-se.^[2][1]
3. To satisfy, grant (a wish or request).^[2][15]
4. To complete, reach (a period, a requirement): cumprir os requisitos.^[2][16]
5. To hold, discharge (an office or function).^[2]
6. To serve (a sentence); to submit to a condition.^[2][16]
7. (impersonal) To be necessary or fitting: Cumpre agir depressa.^[2][17]
8. To be the duty of, fall to (someone).^[2][18]

Word family

• cumpridor
• cumprimento
• comprido
• comprimento
• descumprir

Related words

• complemento
• completo
• encher
• Latin compleō
• Spanish cumplir

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cumprir
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. comprir
4. ^ 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. cumprir
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 290
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. cumprir
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. cumprir
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2101
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. compleō
10. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. comprir
11. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cumprir
12. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cumprir
13. ^ 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. cumprir
14. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cumprir
15. ^ 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. cumprir
16. ^ 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. cumprir
17. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. cumprir
18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. cumprir