energia

Forms

energia f (plural energias)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin energīa (“force, efficacy”), a loan of Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia, “activity, operation; force in action”).^[2][3][1][4] Houaiss adds that the word was probably spread by French énergie.^[2] The Greek noun comes from ἐνεργής (energḗs) or ἐνεργός (energós, “at work, active”), formed from ἐν (en, “in”) and ἔργον (érgon, “work”), from *wérǵom.^[1][2] Aristotle used it for activity as opposed to mere disposition.^[5] In Latin it is found in Jerome.^[6]

The same word is Spanish energía, Catalan energia and Italian energia.^[1] Spanish has it from 1611, and Lope de Vega in 1632 still called it a neologism.^[7][8][1]

Semantic evolution

Pereira's Latin dictionary of 1697 already enters energia.^[9] Bluteau's Vocabulario de synonymos pairs it with enfase, enthusiasmo, efficacia and vehemencia, and Morais (1789) defines it as the activity, force and action of body or soul, a figure of speech that lends life to lifeless things, and the vigour of a painting.^[10][11] The moral sense “firmness, resolve” is the one Vieira (1871–1874) illustrates with Alexandre Herculano.^[12] The sense of physics, the capacity of a body or system to do work, goes back to the English energy of Thomas Young in 1807.^[2] Compounds such as energia atômica are of the 20th century, and in everyday speech energia also means electricity.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 1563 – first record.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira's dictionary lists energia.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais gives its senses of physical and moral force and of a figure of speech.^[11]
• 1807 – Thomas Young gives English energy its sense in physics, later taken over in Portuguese.^[2]
• 1808 – energia in a text printed in Rio de Janeiro.^[13]
• 20th century – first record of energia atômica.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (physics) The capacity of a body, substance or system to do work; energy.^[2][14][1]
2. Physical strength, vigour: Depois da doença ficou sem energia.^[2][15][1]
3. Moral strength, firmness, resolve: Respondeu com energia..^[2][15]
4. Boldness and force in the conception or execution of a work.^[2][4]
5. (philosophy) In Aristotle, the action by which a potentiality is made actual.^[2][15]
6. (informal) electricity, electric power.^[1]

Related words

• energético
• enérgico
• energizar
• Latin energīa
• Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. energia
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. energia
4. ^ 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. energia
5. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. ἐνέργεια
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. energia
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 611
8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. energía
9. ^ a b 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. energia
10. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. energia
11. ^ 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, 496
12. ^ 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, 130
13. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. energia
14. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 3539
15. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. energia