decisão

Forms

decisão f (plural decisões)^[1] Houaiss records the 16th-century spellings decysão and decizão (1550) and decissão (1559).^[2] Pereira (1697) and Bluteau (1712–1728) head the word decisam, the spelling of their time.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin dēcīsiō (“a settlement; a decision”), the noun of the verb dēcīdō (“to cut off; to settle”).^[5][6][1] Houaiss takes it from French décision, recorded in French in 1314, and that word in turn from the Latin noun.^[2] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word, and Wiktionary also allows a formation inside Portuguese, from Portuguese decidir + -são.^[6][1]

In Latin the noun meant “a cutting down, a reduction” and, far more often, “a settlement, an agreement” of a dispute.^[7][8] Medieval Latin used it for a judicial sentence.^[9] The verb is formed from dē- and caedō (“to cut”).^[5][10]

The same Latin noun gave Galician decisión, Spanish decisión, Catalan decisió, Italian decisione and Romanian decizie.^[1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1550, in the spellings decysão and decizão, with the sense “the act or result of deciding”.^[2] Cunha's first record is from the 17th century.^[5] Bluteau defines decisam as the final ruling that ends a lawsuit, a question or a doubt in business, and notes that the Latin word did not quite have this sense in Cicero.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word began in the language of the law and of disputes: a ruling or sentence that closes a case.^[4][2] Morais (1813) gives the act of deciding and the sentence that settles a matter.^[12] The 19th-century dictionaries add a sense of character, “resolve, courage”: Figueiredo lists coragem, intrepidez beside the legal senses.^[10][13]

Modern dictionaries keep all three lines: a choice made after thought, a judge's ruling, and firmness in deciding.^[2][14][15] Brazilian sport uses decisão for the deciding match of a championship, the final.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 1550 – first record, spelt decysão and decizão.^[2]
• 1559 – the spelling decissão.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro enters Decisam, glossed with the Latin word.^[3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines decisam as the last ruling that ends a lawsuit or question.^[4]
• 1813 – Morais has the modern spelling decisão.^[12]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the sense “courage, boldness”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or result of deciding; a decision, a resolution reached after thought or discussion.^[2][14][16]
2. (law) A ruling or sentence; the part of a judgment in which the judge settles the dispute.^[2][15]
3. A fact or event that settles the course or outcome of something.^[2]
4. The ability to decide without hesitation; resolve, firmness, courage (coragem).^[2][14][17]
5. (theology) A ruling of a church council on a matter of faith or dogma.^[2][16]
6. (Brazil, sport) The deciding game of a competition; a final.^[2][13]

Related words

• decidir
• decisivo
• indecisão
• indeciso
• Latin dēcīsiō
• Spanish decisión

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. decisão
3. ^ 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. decisam
4. ^ a b c d Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. decisam
5. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. decidir
6. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. decisão
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. dēcīsiō
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. decisio
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. decisio
10. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 382
11. ^ 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. decisión
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 515
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. decisão
14. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. decisão
15. ^ 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. decisão
16. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. decisão
17. ^ 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. decisão