escote

Forms

escote m (plural escotes)^[1] The first record, of 1519, is spelt ezcote.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French escot (“share of a payment”), modern French écot.^[2][3][4][5] Houaiss dates the Old French noun to the 13th century and notes that its derivative escoter (“to pay one's contribution”) already appears around 1165.^[2] Wiktionary takes the Portuguese word from the later stage, escot.^[1] Nascentes (1955) preferred Catalan escot as the source, and reports that Meyer-Lübke rejected a link with Latin quotus.^[6]

The French word goes back to Frankish *skot (“tax, contribution in money”).^[2][3][7][8] Wiktionary explains it as “that which is thrown in”, from Proto-Germanic *skutą, and compares Old English scot (“payment”) and Old High German scoz (“shot, missile”).^[1] Figueiredo had only proposed a Germanic source, with a question mark.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is Gaspar Nicolau's arithmetic book of 1519, where the word means a person's share of a common expense.^[2] Figueiredo had already pointed to the Pratica d'arismetica of Gaspar Nicolau (p. 71) against Bluteau, who said he had found the word in no writer.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Pereira (1697) glosses the word with Latin collecta.^[10] Morais (1789) quotes the phrase entrar ao escote “to pay one's share of a common expense” from two works, Sá de Miranda's Vilhalpandos and the Arte de Furtar.^[11][12] Vieira (1871) quotes Herculano's Monge de Cister for o escote paid by a customer.^[13] Figueiredo (1899) marks the word as out of use, but the modern dictionaries still give it, with the extended sense “any expense”.^[9][2][14]

Michaelis compares the popular fazer uma vaca “to club together”.^[15] The adjective escoteiro “travelling without baggage” is formed on this noun with -eiro.^[16]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – the Old French verb escoter “to pay one's contribution”.^[2]
• 1519 – first Portuguese record, spelt ezcote, in Gaspar Nicolau.^[2]
• 1500s – Cunha's first record of escoteiro.^[3]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses escote with Latin collecta.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais records entrar ao escote.^[11]
• 1899 – Figueiredo marks the word as obsolete.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The share that each person pays of a common expense; cota-parte.^{[2][3][14][17]}
2. The sum each person subscribes; a contribution.^[4][14][15]
3. (by extension) Any expense.^[2][4][14]

Word family

• escoteiro

Related words

• French écot
• cota-parte

Usage notes

Houaiss and Aurélio also record, from the language of the Brazilian navy, a separate noun escote, a set of lamps on a yard switched on and off from a distance to send signals at night, named after a Scott who invented or made the first such device.^[2][4] In Trás-os-Montes escote is an old cow being fattened for slaughter.^[18][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. escote
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. escote
4. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. escote
5. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 3805
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. escote
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. escote
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. écot
9. ^ a b c d Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. escote
10. ^ 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. escote
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, 36
12. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 742
13. ^ 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, 270
14. ^ 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. escote
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. escote
16. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. escoteiro
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. escote
18. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. escote
19. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. escote