esclarecer

Forms

esclarecer (first-person singular present esclareço, first-person singular preterite esclareci, past participle esclarecido)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese es- + claro + -ecer.^[2][1][3][4] Vieira (1871–1874) derived it instead from Latin clārēscō (“to become bright”), and the DLE derives Spanish esclarecer from ex- and the same verb.^[5][6] The 13th-century texts also write Old Galician-Portuguese sclarecer and Old Galician-Portuguese escrarecer.^[2][7] claro is from Latin clārus (“bright, clear; loud”), which goes back to *kelh₁- (“to call, shout”), the sense “loud” being older than “clear”.^[1][8] The Galician verb is esclarecer “to clear up, dawn”.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Cantigas de Santa Maria the verb means “to light up, make bright” and, intransitively, “to become bright”: the great power of the saints que a terra toda sclareceu “which lit up the whole earth”.^[10] Houaiss and Cunha date the forms esclarecer, sclarecer and escrarecer to the 13th century.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The early dictionaries know only the physical sense: Barbosa (1611) has “to give light, to dawn”, and Bluteau (1712–1728) “to become light”, of the day and of the weather after mist.^[11][12] Morais (1813) adds the figurative senses “to enlighten the mind” and “to make noble, illustrious”.^[13] The original Caldas Aulete quotes Mendes Leal for “to make understandable, elucidate”, the sense that now prevails, along with “to give explanations to someone” and, in the reflexive, “to inform oneself”.^[14][2] The DLP marks the sense “to light up” as little used today.^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – esclarecer, sclarecer and escrarecer;^[2][7][10] sclareceu “lit up” in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[2][7][10]
• 15th century – the derivative esclareçimento.^[15]
• 1611 – Barbosa: “to give light, to dawn”.^[11]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau: of the day and the weather.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais records “to enlighten” and “to make illustrious”.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To make clear, elucidate: O relatório esclareceu as causas do acidente.^[2][4][3]
2. (transitive) To give an explanation to;^[2][4] (reflexive) to inform oneself: Esclareceu-se junto dos serviços antes de assinar.^[2][4]
3. (transitive) To enlighten, educate.^[2][4]
4. (transitive) To make noble or illustrious.^[2][3]
5. To illuminate, light up;^[2][4][16] (intransitive) to grow light, dawn, clear up (of the sky).^[2][4][16]

Word family

• esclarecedor
• esclarecimento

Related words

• claro
• aclarar
• clarear
• Latin clārus
• Spanish esclarecer

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 i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. esclarecer
3. ^ a b c d 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. esclarecer
4. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. esclarecer
5. ^ 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, 261
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. esclarecer
7. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. esclarecer
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. esclarecer
10. ^ a b c 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. esclarecer
11. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. esclarecer
12. ^ 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. esclarecer
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 739
14. ^ 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. esclarecer
15. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. esclarecimento
16. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. esclarecer