estilo

Forms

estilo m (plural estilos)^[1] The 14th-century texts write stillo and estillo, the 15th-century ones estilo and stilo.^[2][3] Wiktionary lists the older spellings estylo and estyllo.^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin stilus (“pointed stake; stylus; manner of writing”).^[2][3][1] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word.^[4] The Latin word is often written with ⟨y⟩ through a mistaken link with Ancient Greek στῦλος (stûlos, “pillar”), with which it has nothing to do.^[5][6]

The inherited outcome of the Latin word is esteio “prop, pillar”.^[7][1] The borrowing is Galician estilo and Spanish estilo, and the same Latin word gave Italian stilo and French style.^[7][1]

Wiktionary derives the Latin word from Proto-Italic *stiglos, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp, to sting”).^[1] De Vaan finds the connection with stimulus (“goad”) and the root of stinguō possible but unproven, and leaves the origin open.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the word to the 14th century, spelt stillo and estillo.^[2][3] Cunha gives both the old sense, the pointed instrument for writing on wax tablets, and the sense “manner of writing or speaking”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word passed from the writing instrument to the writing done with it and to an author's manner of writing.^[4][2] Pereira (1697) glosses estilo as “custom”, and Folqman (1755) has estilo dos tribunaes, the set forms of the law courts.^[9][10] Morais (1813) gives the ancients' writing iron, each author's way of writing, a pointed tool of goldsmiths and painters, and the manner of doing anything, as in singing or in court procedure.^[11] Caldas Aulete adds the pointer of a sundial and, in botany, the part of the pistil that bears the stigma.^[12] The modern senses extend to the arts, to a person's tastes and ways, and to elegance in dress.^[2]

In Rio Grande do Sul estilo is also a sung poetic and musical form shared with Argentina and Uruguay.^[13] In Portugal the word names a swimming stroke.^[1]

Timeline

• 14th century – first records, spelt stillo and estillo.^[2][3]
• 15th century – the spellings estilo and stilo.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders estilo with Latin stillus.^[14]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses it with Latin stylus and quotes Cicero on the Attic style.^[15]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses it as “custom”.^[9]
• 1755 – Folqman records estilo dos tribunaes.^[10]
• 1813 – Morais lists the writing iron, the author's manner and the goldsmith's tool.^[11]
• 1899 – Figueiredo marks the writing instrument as obsolete.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A stylus, a pointed rod of metal or bone for writing on wax tablets.^[2][17][1]
2. The pointer of a sundial.^[2][12]
3. A person's way of expressing himself in speech or writing: um estilo seco e direto.^[2][17]
4. Correct and elegant writing: um texto sem estilo^[2][17]
5. (linguistics) A level of formality in speech or writing, a register.^[2]
6. The tastes and ways that mark a person or group; a personal manner of doing something.^[2][1]
7. (arts) The features that characterize the works of an artist, a school or a period: o estilo barroco.^[2][18]
8. Elegance in dress.^[2]
9. Custom, usual practice.^[18]
10. (botany) The style of a flower, the stalk of the pistil that bears the stigma.^[12][1]
11. (Portugal, swimming) A stroke;^[1] (in the plural) the medley.^[1]

Word family

• estiloso
• estilista

Related words

• esteio
• Latin stilus
• Spanish estilo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. estilo
3. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. estilo
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. estilo
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. stilus
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. stilus
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8260
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ 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. estilo
10. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. estilo
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 776
12. ^ 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. estilo
13. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. estilo
14. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. estilo
15. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. estilo
16. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 567
17. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. estilo
18. ^ 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. estilo