durar

Forms

durar (first-person singular present duro, first-person singular preterite durei, past participle durado)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling dorar in the 14th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dūrō (“to harden; to hold out, last”), written Old Galician-Portuguese durar in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] A Latin charter of 1025 already has the verb.^[2] The Latin verb is formed from dūrus (“hard”).^[4][1] Corominas reports that Latinists disagree whether the Latin verb meaning “to last” is the same word as the one meaning “to harden”, as Walde and Hofmann hold, or at first a different one, as Ernout and Meillet hold.^[5]

De Vaan derives the adjective from Proto-Indo-European *du(e)h₂-ro- (“far, long”), the source also of Sanskrit दूर (dūrá, “far”).^[6][1] Wiktionary notes that this needs a change of sense from “long” to “enduring”, and gives as an alternative a root *deru- (“hard, firm”).^[1]

The same Latin verb gave Galician durar, Spanish durar, Catalan durar, French durer, Italian durare and Romanian dura.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha dates the verb to the 13th century.^[3] In the cantigas of the Cancioneiro da Ajuda it means to go on existing, to stay alive, and in the cantigas d'amigo to hold out against sorrow and keep living.^[8] The Crónica Troiana uses it of time, uẽolles hun uento moy forte et duroulles tres dias “a very strong wind came on them and lasted three days”, and of space, for a place that dura bẽ quinze legoas en derredor “extends a good fifteen leagues around”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The early dictionaries render the verb with Latin duro and permaneo (Cardoso, 1569), give the sense “to live” (Barbosa, 1611), and gloss it “to continue” (Bluteau).^[9][10][11] Morais (1813) adds the sense “to wear well”, said of cloth, and “to hold out” in a fight.^[12] Vieira (1871) records the sense “to persist in an idea or custom”.^[13] Modern dictionaries add “to be enough for a time”, said of supplies.^[14][15]

Timeline

• 1025 – durare in a Latin charter.^[2]
• 13th century – first records in Galician-Portuguese, in the cantigas.^[3][8]
• 14th century – the spelling dorar;^[16] durável is first recorded.^[2][16]
• c. 1430 – the Horto do Esposo (copied 1390–1437) uses the verb.^[17]
• 15th century – first records of duração and duradouro.^[18][19]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders it with Latin duro and permaneo.^[9]
• 1611 – Barbosa gives the sense “to live”.^[10]
• 1813 – Morais records cloth that “lasted” and a fight that “lasted” a whole day.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To last, go on for a period of time: A reunião durou duas horas.^[2][20][1]
2. (intransitive) To go on living, survive.^[2][14]
3. (intransitive) To keep its qualities, wear well, endure: Estas botas duram anos.^[2][21]
4. (intransitive) To be enough for a certain time, said of supplies.^[14][15]

Word family

• duração
• duradouro

Related words

• duro
• durável
• durante
• perdurar
• Latin dūrus
• Galician durar

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 h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. durar
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. durar
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. dūrō
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 536
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2805
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. durar
9. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. durar
10. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. durar
11. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. durar
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 644
13. ^ 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, 1149
14. ^ a b c 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. durar
15. ^ 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. durar
16. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. durável
17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. durar
18. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. duração
19. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. duradouro
20. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. durar
21. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. durar