desligar

Forms

desligar (first-person singular present desligo, first-person singular preterite desliguei, past participle desligado)^[1] The 14th-century form is deslegar, after the old form legar of ligar.^[2][3] Cunha also records desliar.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese des- + ligar, first written Old Galician-Portuguese deslegar.^[2][3][4][1] The base verb, old Old Galician-Portuguese legar, is from Latin ligō (“to bind, tie”).^[5][3] Wiktionary traces the Latin verb to *leyǵ- (“to bind”), and treats desliar as a doublet, from the popular form liar.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese, is of the 14th century, with the old form deslegar.^[2] Bluteau's quotations show the sense “to unbind, loosen”: Os que desligaõ de si as cadeas das falsas alegrias “those who unbind from themselves the chains of false joys”.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau sends the reader to desatar “to untie”, and Morais (1789) gives “to untie”, “to unfasten” and “to dissolve a union”.^[7][8] The figurative “to release from an obligation” and the theological “to absolve” (the Church's power to bind and loose, ligar e desligar) are recorded in the old Caldas Aulete.^[9][10] The verb has taken the technical sense “to switch off, disconnect” (an appliance, a motor, the gas) and “to hang up” (a telephone), now its commonest use.^[2][4][1] It also means “to dismiss from a post”, and informally in Portugal “to stop paying attention”.^[2][11][4]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record, as deslegar.^[2][3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau enters desligar with quotations.^[7]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as “to untie the bindings”.^[8]
• 1844 – first record of desligamento.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To switch off, turn off (an appliance, a light, an engine): Desliga a televisão antes de saíres.^[2][12][1]
2. To disconnect; to unplug.^[2]
3. To hang up (the telephone).^[4][9][1]
4. To undo a connection between; to separate, unbind, untie.^[2][13][1]
5. To release from an obligation or commitment;^[2][9] (reflexive) to leave (a party, an association).^[2][9]
6. To dismiss from a post;^[2] (reflexive) to resign.^[2]
7. (reflexive) To free oneself (of a worry or an idea); to drift away (from friends).^[2]
8. (Portugal, informal) To stop paying attention, switch off.^[4][12]

Word family

• desligado
• desligamento
• desligadura

Related words

• ligar
• desliar
• liar
• Latin ligō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. desligar
3. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ligar
4. ^ a b c d e 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. desligar
5. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ligar
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. ligare
7. ^ 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. desligar
8. ^ a b c 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, 416
9. ^ a b c d 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. desligar
10. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. desligar
11. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. desligar
12. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 3002
13. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. desligar