desmaiar

Forms

desmaiar (first-person singular present desmaio, first-person singular preterite desmaiei, past participle desmaiado)^[1] Old forms are desmayar, desmajar and desmaiaees.^[2][3] Folqman (1755) heads the verb desmaiar, ou desmayar.^[4]

Etymology

It is from Portuguese esmaiar (“to faint”) with a change of prefix, des- taking the place of es-.^[2][5][6][1] That verb comes from Old French esmaier (“to be frightened; to faint”), which is from Vulgar Latin *exmagō (“to deprive of strength”).^[2][1][7] The Vulgar Latin verb was formed on Frankish *magan (“to have strength, to be able”), a Germanic verb, from Proto-Germanic *maganą.^[2][1][8] Houaiss notes that esmagar (“to crush”) has the same origin.^[2] Figueiredo (1899) still called the origin uncertain.^[9]

The same Old French verb gave Spanish desmayar, recorded from the early 13th century, and Galician desmaiar, and the English dismay is also a borrowing of it.^[8][1] Corominas notes that the French verb went out of use around 1600, and that the Spanish verb meant “to lose heart, to falter” in the Middle Ages, and “to lose consciousness” only from the Golden Age.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a cantiga of Pedr' Amigo de Sevilha, in which a man desmayo logo ben ali por en / e ouve logu' i a morrer “fainted right there for it and was close to dying”.^[3][10] The Galician Crónica Troiana has both main senses: a knight foy desmayado so that he did not know what to do, and another non sse desmayava por nehũa cousa “was not daunted by anything”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The medieval chronicles use the verb for losing heart, as in amigos, non desmaedes “friends, do not lose heart” in the Crónica Geral of 1344.^[3] The participle desmayado is recorded in the 14th century, and the noun esmayamento then meant the same as desmaio, which appears in the 16th century.^[5] Bluteau gives four senses: to lose one's senses, to lose bodily strength, to lose heart and to lose hope, as in desmaiar da pretensão “to give up one's suit”.^[11] Folqman (1755) adds “to grow pale”, and Morais (1789) the senses of colours and brightness: olhos desmaiados, faded paint, and verse that is soft, the opposite of harsh verse.^[4][12]

Houaiss puts the sense “to make or become pale, to fade” first, before “to lose consciousness”.^[2] Wiktionary records newer uses: transitively, to make someone faint, often by drugging them for a crime, and informally to fall asleep suddenly from tiredness.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century – Pedr' Amigo de Sevilha writes desmayo “he fainted”.^[3]
• 14th century – the participle desmayado and the noun esmayamento “fainting”.^[5]
• 1344 – non desmaedes “do not lose heart” in the Crónica Geral.^[3]
• 16th century – first record of the noun desmaio.^[5]
• 1697 – Pereira gives the Latin animo cadere “to lose heart”.^[13]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau lists the senses “to faint”, “to lose strength”, “to lose heart” and “to lose hope”.^[11]
• 1755 – Folqman adds “to grow pale”.^[4]
• 1789 – Morais records the senses of fading colours and lustre.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To faint, to lose consciousness: Com o calor, dois alunos desmaiaram.^[2][1][14]
2. (transitive, intransitive and pronominal) To make or become pale; to fade, to lose colour or brightness.^[2][6]
3. (intransitive, figurative) To lose heart; to weaken, to falter.^[2][1][15]
4. (with de) To give up a purpose for lack of will.^[2][6]
5. (transitive) To make someone faint, often by drugging them with criminal intent.^[1]
6. (informal) To fall asleep suddenly from exhaustion.^[1]

Word family

• desmaiado
• desmaio

Related words

• esmaiar
• esmaecer
• esmagar
• Old French esmaier
• Spanish desmayar

Usage notes

Aurélio notes that the pronominal use belongs to literary language, and gives esmaiar as a rare synonym.^[6] Houaiss also records a separate regional verb desmaiar of the Alentejo, “to celebrate the coming of May”, formed from des-, maio and -ar.^[2] The DLP has it as a regional verb from maia.^[2][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. desmaiar
3. ^ a b c d e f 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. desmayar
4. ^ a b c Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. desmaiar
5. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. desmaiar
6. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. desmaiar
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3022
8. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 468
9. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 427
10. ^ 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. desmaiar
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. desmaiar
12. ^ 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, 417
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. desmaiar
14. ^ 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. desmaiar
15. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. desmaiar
16. ^ 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. desmaiar