envidar

Forms

envidar (first-person singular present envido, first-person singular preterite envidei, past participle envidado)^[1] Houaiss records the 14th-century spelling evidar and the 15th-century enuedar.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin invītō (“to entertain, invite”).^[2][3][4][1] The REW notes that almost everywhere in Romance the verb came to mean “to challenge” and “to bid” in games, while the Latin sense “to invite” passed to Vulgar Latin *convitare, the source of convidar.^[5]

The same Latin word is Galician envidar, Spanish envidar, Catalan envidar and Old French envier.^[5][6] García de Diego notes that Spanish invitar is a learned form of the same verb.^[6]

The origin of the Latin verb is uncertain.^[7][1] De Vaan posits a verb *wītāje- (“to pursue”) prefixed with in- (“in”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- (“to chase, pursue”); others connect it with invocō (“to invoke”).^[7][1] Lewis and Short's older guess linked it with vōx (“voice”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the verb to the 14th century, from the slips of Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese, in the spelling evidar;^[9] Cunha gives the 15th century.^[2][3] A private letter of 1599 has the form evydã.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In the early dictionaries the verb is a gaming word.^[10][11] Bluteau (1712–1728) explains it as raising the stake in Primeira and other card games before taking cards, as opposed to revidar after seeing them.^[10] Morais (1813) defines it as raising the stake to challenge the other player, gives envidar de falso “to bid on a weak hand”, and records a figurative sense, “to offer out of politeness, without meaning the offer to be taken up”.^[11] Vieira quotes it from Camões's play Anfitriões.^[12]

The original Caldas Aulete adds the figurative “to employ with zeal”, quoting envidavam esforços.^[13] This is now the commonest use, in the set phrase envidar esforços “to make every effort”.^[2][14] In Rio Grande do Sul it still means to invite someone to a game, or to bet at cards.^[15]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record, spelt evidar.^[2]
• 15th century – the spelling enuedar;^[9] Cunha's first date for the verb.^[2][3]
• 1599 – evydã in a private letter.^[9]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau explains it as a term of card games.^[10]
• 1813 – Morais records envidar de falso and the sense “to offer out of politeness”; first record of reenvidar.^[11][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (games) To raise the stake and challenge another player to accept the bet.^[2][16][1]
2. To defy or provoke.^[16][17]
3. To apply with great effort; to employ (means, resources, efforts): envidar esforços.^[2][14][1]
4. (reflexive) To strive; to devote oneself to something: Envidou-se em terminar o curso.^[2][16]
5. To offer something out of courtesy, without much insistence.^[2][1]

Word family

• reenvidar

Related words

• convidar
• revidar
• Latin invītō
• Spanish envidar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. envidar
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. envidar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. envidar
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. invitare
6. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. invitare
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. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d 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. envidar
10. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. envidar
11. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 720
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, 202
13. ^ 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. envidar
14. ^ 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. envidar
15. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. envidar
16. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. envidar
17. ^ 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. envidar