delinquente

Forms

delinquente m or f by sense (plural delinquentes)^[1] Houaiss heads the word delinqüente, with the diaeresis of the spelling in use before the Acordo Ortográfico;^[2][3][4] Aurélio and Priberam note that the u is pronounced.^[2][3][4] A letter of 1580 writes delynquemtes.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēlinquēns (“failing, offending”), first recorded in 1444.^[2][6][1] The Latin word is the present participle of dēlinquō (“to be lacking, err”), from dē- and linquō (“to leave”).^[2][7][8][1] Cunha dates the Portuguese verb delinquir to the 15th century, and the noun delinquência to 1881.^[9]

The Latin verb for “to leave” goes back to the root Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ-; its cognates include Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “to leave”) and Sanskrit रिणक्ति (riṇákti, “leaves”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology quotes a document of 1444: comtamto que nam sejam os delinquentes “provided they are not the offenders”, and one of 1481 with todos los delinquentes.^[10] Houaiss takes the same date, 1444, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese.^[2] The word appears from the start in legal texts, of those who have broken the law.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense has not changed: Bluteau (1712–1728) defines the delinquente as the author of an offence, and Morais (1789) as the person who has committed a crime.^[11][12] Morais (1813) adds its use as an adjective, quoting the Lusíadas.^[13] In Rio Grande do Sul the word is also used figuratively of someone nobody trusts, from whom bad behaviour is always expected.^[14]

Timeline

• 1444 – first record, in a document that speaks of os delinquentes.^[10][2]
• 1481 – todos los delinquentes.^[10]
• 1580 – the spelling delynquemtes in a letter.^[5]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses it with Latin nocens.^[15]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as the author of an offence.^[11]
• 1813 – Morais records the adjectival use.^[13]
• 1881 – first record of delinquência.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Who has committed an offence or a crime; given to breaking the law or moral rules: um jovem delinquente.^[2][3][7]

Noun

1. A delinquent, an offender; criminoso, infrator.^{[2][7][16][1]}
2. (Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, figurative) A person no one trusts, from whom wrongdoing is always expected.^[14]

Related words

• delinquir
• delinquência
• delito
• relíquia
• Latin dēlinquō
• Spanish delincuente

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. delinquente
3. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. delinquente
4. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. delinquente
5. ^ 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. delinquente
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. delinquente
7. ^ 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. delinquente
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. linquō
9. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. delinquir
10. ^ a b c d 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. delinquente
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. delinquente
12. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 372
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 526
14. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. delinquente
15. ^ 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. delinquente
16. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2743