espargir

Forms

espargir (first-person singular present esparjo, first-person singular preterite espargi, past participle espargido)^[1] The 13th- and 14th-century form was esparger.^[2][3] Esparzir is a variant.^[3][2][1] Bluteau heads the word esparzir and refers espargir to it, while Feijó prefers espargir to esparsir because of the Latin.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin spargō (“to scatter, strew, sprinkle”), first written Old Galician-Portuguese esparger in the 13th century.^[3][2][1] Nascentes says it came by a semi-learned route.^[6]

The same Latin verb is Galician esparexer, Spanish esparcir (older Old Spanish esparzer), Catalan espargir, Old French espardre, Italian spargere and Romanian sparge.^[7][1][8] Corominas's first Spanish record is esbarcir in Berceo.^[9]

Wiktionary derives the Latin verb from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pregʰ- (“to scatter, to jerk”).^[1] De Vaan instead reconstructs *sp(e)r-g- (“to strew”), with Hittite išpār-i “to spread out, strew” and Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō, “to strew, sow”) as cognates.^[10] He rejects the usual comparison with Sanskrit स्फूर्जति (sphū́rjati, “to roar, thunder”) and σφαραγέομαι (spharagéomai, “to hiss, crackle”): those words describe a sound, and the root they would need could not give the Latin form.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology quotes the Galician General Estoria, et yuã espargindo se por las terras “and they went scattering over the lands”.^[11] In the Crónica Troiana a warrior cuts off heads and arms and espargia moytos nenbros por esses canpos “scattered many limbs over those fields”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Cardoso translates the verb with Latin dispergo “to scatter”.^[12] Morais gives pouring out a liquid, the sun spreading its rays, and strewing roses.^[13] The original Caldas Aulete adds stripping the petals off flowers, and “to diffuse, radiate”.^[14] Michaelis calls the sense “to sprinkle a liquid” poetic.^[15] Houaiss has a figurative use, spreading a faith or an idea.^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – first record, as esparger.^[2]
• 14th century – first record of the form espargir.^[3][2]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses it with Latin dispergo.^[12]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau refers it to esparzir.^[4]
• 1734 – Feijó recommends espargir over esparsir.^[5]
• 1789 – Morais's dictionary enters the word.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sprinkle (a liquid) in fine drops; to spray: Espargiu um pouco de perfume no lenço.^[3][14][1]
2. To scatter, strew, spread;^[3][16][1] (pronominal) to spread out: Espargiram pétalas à passagem do cortejo.^[3][16][1]
3. To shed, radiate (light, a scent); to diffuse: A lua espargia uma luz fria sobre o vale.^[17][14]
4. (figurative, formal) To disseminate (a faith, ideas).^[3]

Word family

• espargimento

Related words

• esparzir
• aspergir
• esparso
• Spanish esparcir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. espargir
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. espargir
4. ^ 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. espargir
5. ^ 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. espargir
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. espargir
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8120
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 190
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 737
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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. espargir
12. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. espargir
13. ^ 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, 46
14. ^ a b c 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. espargir
15. ^ 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. espargir
16. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. espargir
17. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. espargir