esposo

Forms

esposo m (plural esposos, feminine esposa, feminine plural esposas, metaphonic)^[1] The 13th-century spelling is sposo;^[2][3] esposo is dated to the 13th century by Houaiss and to the 14th by Cunha.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin spōnsus (“betrothed man”), written Old Galician-Portuguese sposo and Old Galician-Portuguese esposo in the old texts.^[2][3][1] Nascentes calls it semi-learned and notes that it took the place of vir (“man, husband”).^[4][5]

The same Latin word is Galician esposo, Spanish esposo, Catalan espòs, French époux and Italian sposo.^[6][5][1]

The Latin word is the past participle of spondeō (“to pledge, promise”), used as a noun for the man promised in marriage.^[1][7] The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *spondéyeti, a causative of *spend- (“to make an offering”), and is related to Ancient Greek σπένδω (spéndō, “to pour a libation”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin law text of 1152 already has the Romance form in the phrase sine prazer de suo sposo “without the consent of her betrothed”.^[8][2] Cunha dates sposo in Portuguese texts to the 13th century.^[3] In the Crónica Troiana a knight promises senpre mentre que eu viua uos seerey leal esposo et amigo “as long as I live I shall be your loyal husband and friend”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word meant “betrothed”, and Medieval Latin already used it for “husband”.^[9][10] Old Portuguese had both senses; the Crónica Geral speaks of the betrothed who gives a pledge to his bride.^[8] Bluteau (1712–1728) and Morais (1789) still put “promised in marriage” first and “husband” second.^[11][12] Aurélio notes that today it is used almost only for “husband”.^[13]

In religious language the Esposo is Christ, the bridegroom of the soul and of the Church.^[14][15]

Timeline

• 1152 – suo sposo in a Latin law text.^[8]
• 1200s – sposo in Portuguese texts.^[3]
• 1300s – the spelling esposo, according to Cunha.^[3]
• 1390–1437 – esposo in the manuscript of the Horto do Esposo.^[16]
• 1569 – Cardoso gives Latin sponsus.^[17]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as “promised in marriage” and “husband”.^[11]
• 1899 – Figueiredo calls “husband” an extension of the original sense.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. A husband, in relation to his spouse: O esposo chegou cedo do trabalho.^[2][19][1]
2. (archaic) A man promised in marriage; a fiancé (noivo).^[2][13]
3. (in the plural) A married couple.^[2][20]
4. (religion) Christ, as bridegroom of the Church or of the soul.^[14][15]

Related words

• esposa
• esposar
• desposar
• esponsal
• Latin spōnsus
• Spanish esposo

Usage notes

The plural keeps the closed vowel, esposos /ô/.^[19] The feminine esposa comes separately from Latin sponsa, and is recorded from the 13th century.^[3]

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. esposo
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. esposar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. esposo
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 193
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. sponsus
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 752
8. ^ a b c d 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. esposo
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. sponsus
10. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. sponsus
11. ^ 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. esposo
12. ^ 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, 54
13. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. esposo
14. ^ a b 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. esposo
15. ^ a b 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. esposo
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. esposo
17. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. esposo
18. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 558
19. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. esposo
20. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 3916