escritor

Forms

escritor m (plural escritores, feminine escritora, feminine plural escritoras)^[1] Houaiss records scriptor and escriptor in the 15th century.^[2] Cunha has scriptor and escritor in the 16th.^[2][3] The feminine is escritora.^[4][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin scrīptor (“scribe, secretary; writer, author”).^[2][3] Nascentes calls it semi-learned, and Wiktionary has it from Old Galician-Portuguese escriptor.^[5][1]

The Latin word is an agent noun of scrībō (“to write”) with -tor.^[6][1] It also gave Spanish escritor, and was borrowed as French scripteur.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first records, from the 15th century, are spelt scriptor and escriptor.^[2] Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 glosses the word simply as “one who writes”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) defines the escritor as the author of a written work, and the dictionaries of the late 19th century as the author of literary or scientific works.^[10][4][11] Houaiss notes that today it is used especially of writers of fiction.^[2] In Portugal the name is also given to a beetle that cuts patterns into vine leaves.^[11][12] Brazilian drivers' slang calls an escritor a driver who keeps changing lanes.^[13]

Timeline

• 15th century – first records, spelt scriptor and escriptor.^[2]
• 16th century – Cunha's date for escritor.^[3]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists Escritor “one who writes”.^[9]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as the author of a written work.^[10]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the feminine escritora.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Someone who writes.^[2][11]
2. A writer, an author of literary, scientific or other works, especially of fiction: É o escritor mais lido do país.^[2][1][12]
3. (Portugal, zoology) A beetle (Adoxus vitis) that cuts patterns into vine leaves.^[12][11]
4. (Brazil, drivers' slang) A driver who keeps changing lanes.^[13]

Word family

• escritora

Related words

• escrever
• escrito
• escritura
• escritório
• escriba
• Latin scrīptor
• Spanish escritor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. escritor
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. escritor
4. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 541
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. escritor
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. scriptor
7. ^ 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. escritor
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. scripteur
9. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. escritor
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c d 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. escritor
12. ^ a b c 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. escritor
13. ^ 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. escritor