despojar

Forms

despojar (first-person singular present despojo, first-person singular preterite despojei, past participle despojado)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling despoiar in the 14th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish despojar, from Latin dēspoliō (“to plunder, strip”).^[2][3][4][1] Corominas also says that Portuguese took the verb from Castilian, where it is recorded from 1215, and that the old native word was despir.^[5] Vieira, Figueiredo and the old Aulete derive it directly from the Latin verb.^[6][7][8]

The Latin verb is formed from dē- and spoliō (“to strip, rob”), from spolium (“skin, hide; spoils”).^[9][10] The native debulhar “to thresh, shell” comes from a related Vulgar Latin verb, Vulgar Latin *dēpoliō.^[11][1] The Latin verb behind this one is also Catalan despullar, French dépouiller, Italian dispogliare and Romanian despuia.^[12][1]

De Vaan derives the Latin noun from Proto-Indo-European *spol(H)-i(o)- (“what is split or stripped off”).^[10]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the verb to the 13th century.^[2] Cardoso (1569) renders it with the Latin spolio and exuo, and Barbosa (1611) with phrases about taking the spoils of an enemy.^[13][14] Bluteau (1712) gives “to deprive”, of goods, of a rank or of a right.^[15] Morais (1789) adds the stripping of clothes and of leaves from trees in winter.^[16] Modern dictionaries add the reflexive sense “to give up, let go of something”.^[2][17]

Timeline

• 13th century – first record, according to Houaiss.^[2]
• 14th century – the spelling despoiar.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses despojar with the Latin spolio and exuo.^[13]
• 1712 – Bluteau defines it as “to deprive”.^[15]
• 1789 – Morais gives the stripping of clothes and of leaves.^[16]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To plunder, rob or sack; to despoil (espoliar).^[2][18]
2. (transitive) To deprive someone of a possession; to dispossess (desapossar).^[2][19][1]
3. (transitive) To strip of what covered or adorned; to undress (despir).^[2][20]
4. (reflexive) To undress; to give up or let go of something.^[2][17]

Related words

• despojo
• debulhar
• espoliar
• despir
• Spanish despojar

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. despojar
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. despojar
4. ^ 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. despojar
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 478
6. ^ 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, 936
7. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 432
8. ^ 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. despojar
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. despoliō
10. ^ a b 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. spolium
11. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. debulhar
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2602
13. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. despojar
14. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. despojar
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. despojar
16. ^ 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, 424
17. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 3048
18. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. despojar
19. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. despojar
20. ^ 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. despojar