emir

Forms

emir m (plural emires)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French émir, from Arabic أمير (ʔamīr, “commander, prince”), according to Houaiss, Cunha and Nascentes.^[2][3][4] Corriente, Pereira and Vicente also treat the Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan word as taken from French, and trace the Arabic word through Andalusian Arabic.^[5][6] Wiktionary instead derives it from Ottoman Turkish امیر (emir), itself from the Arabic word.^[1] French had the word from the 13th century.^[2][7]

The same Arabic word, with the article, gave almirante.^[5][7] The form amir, closer to the Arabic, is recorded beside it but is less used;^[2][6] Corriente notes that Morais preferred it, probably thinking of the classical pronunciation.^[2][6] Nascentes takes the form with /e/ to reflect the colloquial Arabic pronunciation.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to 1513 and Cunha to the 16th century, in the sense of the title of the rulers of Muslim tribes and provinces.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) explains it as a Turkish and Muslim title meaning a head or prince, borne by the early caliphs and princes under them, and also by the supposed descendants of Muhammad through Fatima, who wore a green turban.^[9] Vieira (1871–1874) defines it as the governor of a province or a large tribe among the Arabs, and a title of the Prophet's descendants, of viziers and pashas and of Bedouin chiefs.^[10] The land an emir rules is an emirado, first recorded in 1899.^[11][5]

Timeline

• 1513 – first record of emir.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau explains the title.^[9]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives it from Arabic emir “commander”.^[10]
• 1899 – Figueiredo lists emir and the derivative emirado is first recorded.^[12][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A title of the rulers of certain Muslim tribes, provinces or states; an Arab prince or chief: o emir do Catar.^{[2][13][14][1]}
2. A descendant of Muhammad, or a title given to one.^[2][13][15]

Related words

• emirado
• almirante
• French émir
• Spanish emir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. emir
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. emir
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. emir
5. ^ a b c Corriente, Federico; Pereira, Christophe; Vicente, Ángeles (2019), Dictionnaire des emprunts ibéro-romans: emprunts à l'arabe et aux langues du monde islamique (Encyclopédie linguistique d'Al-Andalus 3), Berlin: De Gruyter, p. s.v. emir
6. ^ a b c Corriente, Federico (1999), Diccionario de arabismos y voces afines en iberorromance, Madrid: Gredos, p. 305
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. émir
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 170
9. ^ 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. emir
10. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 75
11. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. emirado
12. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 483
13. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. emir
14. ^ 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. emir
15. ^ 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. emir