domar

Forms

domar (first-person singular present domo, first-person singular preterite domei, past participle domado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin domō (“to tame, subdue”), written Old Galician-Portuguese domar in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1]

The same Latin verb is Galician domar, Spanish domar, Catalan domar and Italian domare.^[5] Corominas notes that the Spanish verb never shows a diphthong, which makes it suspect of being semi-learned.^[6]

De Vaan reconstructs *domaje-, from *domh₂-éye-, a causative “to tame” of the root *demh₂- (“to domesticate, tame”).^[7][1] The same causative may be in 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gatamjan) and Sanskrit दमयति (damáyati), and the root also gave Old Irish daimid (“to allow, give in”).^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's earliest form is the participle domada, dated 1188–1230 after Machado.^[8] Cunha dates the verb to the 13th century.^[2][3] The Cantigas de Santa Maria use it of the devil: conprenda o demo e o dome “may he seize the devil and tame him”, and que o diabo o tome / e que dentro no inferno o tormente e o dome “that the devil take him and torment and subdue him in hell”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau gives “to conquer, subdue” and quotes a translation of Virgil's Georgics on breaking in colts, with domar as paixões “to master the passions”.^[9] Morais (1789) puts first the taming of a wild animal, and lists figurative uses: to subdue fierce nations or the waves, to master the appetites, to mortify the flesh with penance, and to tame the land with the plough.^[10]

In Rio Grande do Sul it is the usual word for breaking horses for work on the ranch, beside domador, which the Plate shares.^[11] Cunha dates domador to the 17th century, indomável to the 16th and domável to 1813.^[3]

Timeline

• 1188–1230 – the participle domada, after Machado.^[2]
• 13th century – dome in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[8]
• 1570 – domar in a private letter.^[12]
• 16th century – first record of indomável.^[3]
• 1697 – Pereira renders Domar by Latin domo and mansuefacio.^[13]
• 17th century – first record of domador.^[3]
• 1789 – Morais lists the figurative senses.^[10]
• 1813 – first record of domável.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tame or break in a wild animal; to domesticate (domesticar, amansar): Levou meses a domar aquele cavalo.^[2][14][1]
2. To subdue, conquer or bring to obedience: domar os rebeldes.^[2][14][15]
3. To bring natural forces under control.^[2][16]
4. To curb, restrain or hold back (passions, anger).^[2][14][1]
5. (pronominal) domar-se: to restrain oneself.^[14][17]
6. (southern Brazil) To break in horses for work on the ranch.^[11]

Word family

• domador
• domável
• indomável

Related words

• indômito
• Latin domō
• Spanish domar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. domar
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. domar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. domar
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2731
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 513
7. ^ 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
8. ^ 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. domar
9. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. domar
10. ^ 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, 453
11. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. 1, s.v. domar
12. ^ 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. domar
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. domar
14. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. domar
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. domar
16. ^ 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. domar
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. domar