ensaiar

Forms

ensaiar (first-person singular present ensaio, first-person singular preterite ensaiei, past participle ensaiado)^[1] Cunha records ensayar beside ensaiar in the 14th century, and Folqman (1755) still writes Ensaiar, ou Ensayar.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese ensaio + -ar.^[4][1][5] DELPo compares Spanish ensayar.^[6]

ensaio is from Late Latin exagium (“weighing”), which in Late Latin, as in Greek, could already mean a trial or test.^[7][2] Wiktionary derives the Latin noun from exigō (“to measure, weigh”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Crónica Troiana uses the reflexive verb in the sense “to be put to the test”: todos los boos se ensaiaron ẽnas coytas que sofreron “all the good men were tried in the hardships they suffered”.^[8] Cunha dates the verb to the 14th century;^[2][4] Houaiss to the 15th.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Pereira (1697) translates it with Latin exerceo “to exercise”.^[9] Bluteau (1712) records ensaiar moeda, assaying coin, and the rehearsal of a comedy or tragedy before it is performed in public.^[10] Morais (1789) defines the assaying of gold and silver, the rehearsal of actors, and the reflexive ensaiar-se “to practise”.^[11] Modern dictionaries add testing machines and engines, trying something for the first time, and training a team.^[4][12]

Timeline

• 14th century – ensaiar and ensayar.^[2]
• 14th century – the reflexive “to be put to the test” in the Crónica Troiana.^[8]
• 1697 – Pereira translates it with exerceo.^[9]
• 1712 – Bluteau records the assaying of coin and the rehearsal of a play.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais records ensaiar-se “to practise”.^[11]
• 1899 – Figueiredo enters the regional ensaiar “to tuck up a skirt” separately.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To test, to try out, to put to the proof.^[4][1][12]
2. To assay a metal: to find the fineness or value of gold or silver.^[4][1][14]
3. To test a machine, an engine or a device.^[4]
4. To attempt, to make a first try at something.^[4][12]
5. To practise an action again and again; to rehearse a text or a part.^[4][1][12]
6. To plan or prepare.^[4]
7. To train someone;^[4][15] (reflexive) to practise, to improve oneself.^[4][15]
8. (reflexive) To get ready for, to be prepared to.^[4]

Word family

• ensaiador
• ensaiamento

Related words

• ensaio
• ensaísta
• Spanish ensayar

Usage notes

In Portugal não se ensaiar para means not to hesitate to do something.^[4]

Houaiss enters a separate verb ensaiar, formed with en- from saia “skirt”: in Beira, to tuck a long skirt up into the waist, and in the Algarve and Ribatejo, reflexive, to put on a costume or mask.^[4] Figueiredo and the DLP also record it as regional.^[13][5]

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 Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ensaio
3. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. ensaiar
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ensaiar
5. ^ 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. ensaiar
6. ^ 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. ensaiar
7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ensaio
8. ^ a b 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. ensaiar
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. ensaiar
10. ^ 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. ensaiar
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, 506
12. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ensaiar
13. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 509
14. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ensaiar
15. ^ a b 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. ensaiar