derrubar

Forms

derrubar (first-person singular present derrubo, first-person singular preterite derrubei, past participle derrubado)^[1] The 13th-century texts write derubar with a single ⟨r⟩.^[2][3] Derribar is the same verb in another form: Bluteau heads his article derrubar, ou derribar, and Feijó found both spellings in writing but judged derrubar the commoner.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dērūpō (“to throw down from a rock”), a verb formed on rūpēs (“rock, cliff”).^[2][6][7] Cunha and the DLP name instead the Medieval Latin verb dirupō, which Du Cange records (infinitive dirupare).^[3][8][9] In the 13th century the verb is written Old Galician-Portuguese derubar, and Wiktionary gives the old form as Old Galician-Portuguese derrobar.^[2][3][1]

The same Latin verb is Galician derrubar and Italian dirupare, and García de Diego groups with them Spanish derrubiar “to wear away a bank” and Spanish derrumbar.^[9][1] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- (“to break”).^[1]

A second explanation makes the verb a changed form of derribar, from riba “high bank”, itself from Latin rīpa (“river bank”): Silva Bastos and the Wikcionário take this view, Wiktionary gives it as an alternative, and Cornu thought the /u/ came from the influence of the labial consonant.^{[10][11][1][12]} Corominas, writing on Spanish derribar, derives that verb from the noun riba but considers it not unlikely that it is an altered form of the verb from the Latin word for “rock”, reshaped under the influence of the word for “bank” once the link with the rock was forgotten.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology cites the Galician-Portuguese Fuero Real of the 14th century, which punishes whoever cuts down a tree or knocks down a wall (aruor talhar ou parede derubar).^[14] The sense is already “to bring down, to knock to the ground”.^[14]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) uses the verb for pulling down a building and for overthrowing someone who has seized power.^[4] Morais (1789) lists houses, trees, walls and statues among the things one knocks down, and a rider thrown from his horse.^[15] Figueiredo (1899) still treats it simply as another form of derribar.^[16]

Brazilian Portuguese added senses: to set a load down on the ground, to work against someone so as to ruin them, and, in the slang of horse racing, to spread false tips.^[2][7] In Rio Grande do Sul derrubar a cria means “to give birth” (of animals).^[17] In Amazonia the verb is used for felling the vegetation of a plot before manioc is planted.^[18]

Timeline

• 13th century – first record, spelt derubar.^[2][3]
• 14th century – parede derubar in the Fuero Real.^[14]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau heads the word derrubar, ou derribar.^[4]
• 1734 – Feijó finds derrubar more usual than derribar.^[5]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as throwing down what stands upright.^[15]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives it from de and the Latin word for “rock”.^[19]
• 1899 – Figueiredo treats it as the same word as derribar.^[16]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make (something or someone) fall, on purpose or by accident; to knock down: Sem querer, derrubou o copo da mesa.^[2][20][1]
2. (Brazil) To set (a load) down on the ground.^[2][7]
3. To demolish or destroy: Vão derrubar a velha fábrica.^[2][20][1]
4. To overcome or subdue (an opponent).^[2][21]
5. To remove from power; to overthrow (a government, a ruler) or remove someone from an office.^[2][8][1]
6. (Brazil, informal) To scheme against someone so as to leave them at a disadvantage.^[2][7]
7. To let hang down; to turn down (a collar, for example).^[2][22]
8. (figurative) To lay low; to leave (someone) weak or prostrate: A febre derrubou-o durante uma semana.^[2][8]
9. (Brazil, journalism, informal) To drop (a story) during editing.^[2]

Word family

• derrubada
• derrube

Related words

• derribar
• riba
• Latin rūpēs
• Galician derrubar

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. derrubar
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. derrubar
4. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. derrubar
5. ^ 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)
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. derrubar
7. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. derrubar
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. *derupare
10. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. derrubar
11. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org
12. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 153
13. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 448
14. ^ a b c 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. derrubar
15. ^ a b 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, 381
16. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 395
17. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. derrubar
18. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. derrubar
19. ^ 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, 793
20. ^ 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. derrubar
21. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org
22. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2797