envolver

Forms

envolver (first-person singular present envolvo, first-person singular preterite envolvi, past participle envolvido, short past participle envolto)^[1] Bluteau (1712–1728) heads the word envolver, ou involver, and Feijó (1734) recommends the Latin-looking spelling involver with involto and involtorio.^[2][3] Beside the regular participle envolvido the verb keeps the short participle envolto.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin involvō (“to roll onto; to wrap up”), the source that Houaiss, Cunha, Nascentes and the DLP all give.^[4][5][6][7] Nascentes describes the word as semi-learned.^[6]

The same Latin verb is Spanish envolver, Galician envolver, Catalan envoldre, Old French envoudre, Italian involgere and Romanian învoalbe.^[8][9]

The Latin verb is formed from in- (“in, on”) and volvō (“to roll, turn”).^[10][1] De Vaan traces the simple verb to *welu-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *uel-u- (“to wind”), with cognates such as Ancient Greek εἰλύω (eilúō, “to wind round”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the verb to the 14th century, Cunha with the senses “to take in, encompass” and “to hold, surround”.^[4][5] Lorenzo's chronology in the DDGM adds the participle from the Cantigas de Santa Maria: a miracle tells of relics “wrapped in cloths” (envoltas en panos) and of hair “wrapped in a silk cloth” (envoltos en un cendal).^[12] The first sense is the concrete one of wrapping something up.^[12][4]

Semantic evolution

Pereira (1697) glosses the verb with Latin involvo and conglobo.^[13] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines it as covering something with paper or cloth by turning it round, and already has the figurative “to wrap in shadow, darken”, with a quotation from the Malaca conquistada.^[2] Morais (1813) adds “to make someone take part as an accomplice” and “to stir up and cloud water”.^[14] Vieira (1871–1874) records “to mix, confuse”.^[15]

From covering and surrounding the verb went on to mean “to include, entail” and “to involve someone in an affair”, and in the reflexive “to take part, get mixed up”; these are the main senses in Aurélio, Priberam and the DLP.^[16][17][7] In Brazil envolver-se com alguém also means to have a love affair.^[18]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record of the verb, according to Houaiss and Cunha.^[4][5]
• 15th century – first record of the participle envolvido.^[4]
• 1600 – ẽvolvendo in a private letter.^[19]
• 1697 – Pereira's Thesouro lists Envolver.^[13]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives the literal and figurative senses.^[2]
• 1734 – Feijó prefers the spelling involver.^[3]
• 1813 – Morais records “to make someone an accomplice”.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To wrap or cover something by winding something round it; reflexive, to wrap oneself up: envolveu as mãos num pano.^[4][20]
2. To surround, encircle or hold all round: a névoa envolvia a serra.^[4][21][7]
3. To include, contain or entail: o projeto envolve várias equipas.^[16][7][1]
4. To implicate someone in an affair; to compromise: quiseram envolvê-lo no escândalo.^[16][17]
5. To captivate, absorb or win over.^[16][22]
6. To mix or confuse one thing with another.^[17][7]
7. (reflexive) To take part, get involved;^[17][18] (Brazil) to have a love affair with someone.^[17][18]

Word family

• envolto
• envolta
• envoltório
• envoltura
• envolvente
• envolvido
• envolvimento

Related words

• volver
• Latin involvō
• Spanish envolver

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. envolver
3. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. envolver
4. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. envolver
5. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. envolver
6. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. envolver
7. ^ a b c d e 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. envolver
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4540
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. involvere
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. involvō
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ 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. envolver
13. ^ 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. envolver
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 722
15. ^ 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, 203
16. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. envolver
17. ^ a b c d e Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. envolver
18. ^ a b c Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. envolver
19. ^ 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. envolver
20. ^ 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. envolver
21. ^ 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. envolver
22. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 3670