demonstrar

Forms

demonstrar (first-person singular present demonstro, first-person singular preterite demonstrei, past participle demonstrado)^[1] Houaiss records demonstrar and demõstrar in the 14th century; the medieval language also had demostrar, which Cunha records in the 13th century.^[2][3] Demostrar remained the main spelling into the 18th century: Bluteau (1712–1728) and Folqman (1755) send the reader from demonstrar to demostrar, and Morais (1813) still does.^[4][5][6]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēmōnstrō (“to point out, show; to prove”), a learned word recorded from the 14th century.^[2][3][7] Beside it the medieval language had Old Galician-Portuguese demostrar, a popular variant without the nasal, which Houaiss calls vulgar;^[2][3][8] Nascentes quotes an archaic form from a law of 1209.^[2][3][8] Wiktionary describes the modern form as a re-Latinised spelling.^[1]

The Latin verb is formed from dē- and mōnstrō (“to show”).^[9][1] The same Latin verb is Galician demostrar, Spanish demostrar, Catalan demostrar, French démontrer and Italian dimostrare.^[1][10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a cantiga d'escarnho Pedr' Amigo de Sevilha writes já que lhi vós amor demonstrades “since you show her love”, where the Vatican songbook has demostrar.^[12] The first sense is the concrete one, “to show”.^[12][2]

Semantic evolution

Pereira (1697) glosses the verb with Latin monstro, demonstro and indigito “to point out”.^[13] Morais defines it only as “to make a demonstration”.^[14] Vieira (1871) puts the sense of proof first, “to establish by evident and convincing reasoning”, as in proving a proposition, then “to show by outward signs” and “to teach a subject”.^[15] Figueiredo (1899) gives “to prove by conclusive reasoning; to show, reveal; to teach by practice”.^[16] The modern dictionaries add the reflexive sense “to show oneself as one is”.^[17][18]

Timeline

• 13th century – the popular form demostrar.^[3]
• 14th century – demonstrar and demõstrar.^[2]
• 1620 – demonstrar in the Vida e milagres de Santa Senhorinha de Basto (copy of 1620–1645).^[19]
• 1642 – demostra in a private letter.^[20]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau refers demonstrar to demostrar.^[4]
• 1871 – Vieira gives the sense of proof by reasoning first.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. To prove, make evident by reasoning or evidence: demonstrar uma hipótese.^[2][21][22]
2. To show, express (a feeling or intention) by outward signs: Ela demonstrou muita paciência.^[2][21][22]
3. To display (a quality, knowledge or skill).^[2]
4. To teach or explain by showing; to demonstrate how something works.^[21][22][18]
5. (reflexive) To show oneself as one is.^[17][18]

Related words

• demonstração
• demonstrável
• demonstrativo
• demonstrante
• mostrar
• Latin demonstro
• Spanish demostrar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. demonstrar
3. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. demonstrar
4. ^ 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. demonstrar
5. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. demonstrar
6. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 528
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. demonstrar
8. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 151
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ 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. demostrar
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. démontrer
12. ^ 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. demonstrar
13. ^ 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. demonstrar
14. ^ 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, 374
15. ^ 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, 767
16. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 389
17. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. demonstrar
18. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2757
19. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. demonstrar
20. ^ 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. demonstrar
21. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. demonstrar
22. ^ 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. demonstrar