descer

Forms

descer (first-person singular present desço, first-person singular preterite desci, past participle descido)^[1] Houaiss records dezer in 1244, descer in 1269, and decer and deçer in the 13th century.^[2][3] Decer was the usual medieval spelling; the spelling with ⟨sc⟩ came later.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is most probably inherited from Latin dēscendō (“to come down”), the popular form beside the learned descender.^[2][1][6][7] Houaiss explains that both forms at first ran side by side, and that the popular one took the general sense while the learned one kept only narrower senses.^[2] The oldest texts write it Old Galician-Portuguese dezer and Old Galician-Portuguese decer, also spelt with ⟨ç⟩.^[2][3]

The derivation is disputed, and Cunha calls it controversial.^[3] Spitzer, quoted in the REW and in the glossary of the Crónica Geral, explained the form from the participle dēscēnsus or from a Vulgar Latin form of the perfect.^[8][4] Carolina Michaëlis and Nunes derived it from Latin dēcidō (“to fall down”), and Nascentes follows them.^[9][10][5] Meyer-Lübke proposed dēiciō (“to throw down”), Diez and Adolfo Coelho dēsīdō (“to sink down”), and García de Diego *discidō.^[9][10][5] The spelling with ⟨sc⟩ came from the analogy of inchoative verbs such as conhecer and crescer, perhaps helped by the learned synonym.^[5][9]

Old Spanish decir (“to come down”) is used in the Cantar de mio Cid of dismounting from a horse, and García de Diego lists decer (“to fall”) under that Latin verb.^[9][5][11] It survives as Galician decer.^[1] The Latin verb itself continues in Italian scendere, French descendre and Spanish descender.^[8] It is formed of dē- and scandō (“to climb”),^[12][1] and de Vaan traces the simple verb to a Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to jump up, ascend”).^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria use the verb both of going down and of bringing down: foi decer... o ladron da forca “he took the thief down from the gallows”, os soberviosos / d'alto vas decendo “you bring the proud down from on high”, and deceu a terra toste / dun cavalo seu “he got down quickly from his horse”.^[5] The Cancioneiro da Ajuda sets decer against poiar “to climb”.^[5] The verb could also mean “to descend” from an ancestor, as in do linnage deceu do bon rei Davi “descended from the line of the good king David”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Already in the cantigas the verb had the figurative sense of falling in honour and standing: sempre decerá / d'onra e de bondade e d'aver “he will always come down in honour, goodness and wealth”.^[14] Bluteau gives descer de sua autoridade “to lower one's authority”, quoting António Vieira.^[15] Morais (1813) adds the senses “to hang down” and, of a speech, “to pass to its parts”.^[16] Modern senses include going south, lowering a hem, prices falling and the sun setting.^[2] In Brazilian religion the verb is used of an orixá coming down into a medium.^[17]

Timeline

• 1244 – first record, spelt dezer.^[2][4]
• 1269 – the spelling descer.^[2]
• 1282 – deçe in a document.^[4]
• c. 1450 – the Livro das tres vertudes a insinança das damas (copy after 1450) writes deçer.^[18]
• 1663 – a private letter writes deser.^[19]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives descer de sua autoridade.^[15]
• 1871 – Vieira derives it from Latin descendere.^[20]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go or come down, to descend: Desceram a encosta devagar.^[2][21][1]
2. To get down from a vehicle or an animal: Desceu do comboio na última estação.^[2]
3. To bring or take down, to lower: Desce a mala do armário, por favor.^[2][21]
4. To hang or reach down: A cortina descia até ao chão.^[2]
5. To fall, to decrease: A temperatura desceu durante a noite.^[2][7]
6. To go south, or simply to go to a place: Desceram de carro até Lisboa.^[2]
7. (figurative) To decline, to draw towards its end: A tarde descia sobre a aldeia.^[2]
8. (figurative) To lower oneself, to fall below one's moral or social standards.^[2][17]
9. (Brazil, religion) Of an orixá, to come down into a medium.^[17]

Word family

• descida

Related words

• descender
• descendente
• Latin dēscendō
• Galician decer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. descer
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. descer
4. ^ 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. deçer
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. decer
6. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. descer
7. ^ 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. descer
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2588
9. ^ a b c d 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
10. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. descer
11. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. decidere
12. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. dēscendō
13. ^ 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. scandō
14. ^ 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. decer
15. ^ 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. descer
16. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 558
17. ^ a b c Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. descer
18. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. deçer
19. ^ 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. descer
20. ^ 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, 825
21. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. descer