espera

Forms

espera f (plural esperas)^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Portuguese esperar, the noun made from the verb without a suffix.^[2][3][4][5] The verb, written Old Galician-Portuguese asperar in some old texts, continues Latin spērō (“to hope, expect”), itself formed from spēs (“hope”).^[6][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the noun to 1706, with the sense “the act of waiting”.^[2] Folqman's Latin dictionary of 1755 renders it with Latin expectatio “expectation”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Morais's dictionary of 1813 gives the act of waiting, as in estou à espera delle “I am waiting for him”, delay, and the place where one waits for someone or for game.^[9] Houaiss explains the place of waiting as a metonymy and the sense “ambush” as an extension.^[2] Figueiredo in 1899 adds objects that hold something still, such as the iron stop on a carpenter's bench, and the short spur that pruners leave on a vine for the next year.^[10] The spur sense is still recorded in Portuguese dialect surveys.^[11]

In Brazil the word names the strap of a saddle that holds the girths and, in Mato Grosso and Amazonia, a sheltered stretch of river where boats wait for the right wind or monsoon; in Pará it is a place where boats are safe from the tidal bore and wait for the next tide.^[3][5] In Rio Grande do Sul it is an ambush and also a trap for small animals and birds.^[12]

Timeline

• 1706 – first record, as Houaiss dates it.^[2]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses it with Latin expectatio.^[8]
• 1813 – Cunha's date for the noun.^[7] Morais lists the act of waiting, delay and the place of waiting.^[7][9]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the carpenter's stop and the vine spur.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of waiting; a wait: Ficámos duas horas à espera do comboio.^[2][4][1]
2. delay: Respondeu sem espera nenhuma.^[2][3]
3. expectation, hope.^[2][3]
4. The place where one waits for someone or something.^[2][4]
5. An ambush: Os bandidos armaram-lhe uma espera na estrada.^[2][3][1]
6. A period of time allowed for doing something; a respite.^[2][3]
7. (Brazil) The strap of a saddle to which the girths are fastened.^[2][3]
8. (Brazil) A sheltered stretch of a river or bay where boats wait for the wind before going on.^[2][3]
9. (carpentry) A piece fixed at the end of a workbench to hold the plank being planed.^[2][5]
10. (construction) Stones or bricks left projecting from the end of a wall so that another wall can be bonded to it; toothing.^[2]
11. (in the plural) The hunters who wait for the game to pass while the beaters drive it from the thicket.^[2][10]

Word family

• esperinha

Related words

• esperança
• Latin spērō

Usage notes

À espera de means “waiting for”, and sala de espera is a waiting room.^[2][1]

An old word espera meant “sphere”, the same word as esfera.^[13][9] The General Estoria speaks of a oytaua espera “the eighth sphere”, the heaven of the fixed stars.^[14] From the armillary sphere on their faces, espera also named a silver coin of Goa under King Manuel and an old piece of artillery.^[15][16][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. espera
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. espera
4. ^ 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. espera
5. ^ a b c 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. espera
6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. esperar
7. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. esperar
8. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. espera
9. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 758
10. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 552
11. ^ 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. espera
12. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. espera
13. ^ Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 415
14. ^ 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. espera
15. ^ Dalgado, Sebastião Rodolfo (1919–1921), Glossário luso-asiático, 2 vols., Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, p. 1, 382
16. ^ 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. espera
17. ^ 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. espera