esvair

Forms

esvair (first-person singular present esvaio, first-person singular preterite esvaí, past participle esvaído)^[1]

Etymology

Houaiss explains it as a derivative from Portuguese esvaecer, with the ending replaced by -ir, and Nascentes also calls it a back-formation from that verb.^[2][3] Wiktionary, the DLP, Porto Editora and Priberam take it instead from Vulgar Latin *exvanĕre, built on Latin vānus (“empty”).^[1][4][5][6] Aurélio gives a Vulgar Latin *exvaire or a formation with es- and the Latin adjective.^[7] Nascentes lists the older views: Cornu's Latin form, Coelho's prefix es- with a verb from the adjective, and Meyer-Lübke's derivation from ēvānēscō (“to vanish”).^[8]

esvaecer itself was Old Galician-Portuguese esvãecer in the oldest texts, with a nasal vowel that was later lost; it is recorded from the 14th century as esuaecer.^[9] Wiktionary compares French évanouir and Old French esvanir, and Nascentes Italian svanire.^[1][8] The Latin adjective goes back to *wānos and further to Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”).^[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the verb to the 16th century, Cunha with the sense “to make evaporate, to exhaust”.^[2][11] Bluteau defines it as “to evaporate” and illustrates it with the head swimming at a height (A altura deste lugar me faz esvair a cabeça “the height of this place makes my head swim”).^[12]

Semantic evolution

Feijó (1734) preferred evanescer and glossed the verb as “to evaporate, to lose the light of the eyes, to feel giddy”.^[13] Morais (1789) has the strong part of a liquid evaporating, blood running out and the body weakening from loss of blood, and the head failing with dizziness.^[14] Vieira adds the example of alcohol evaporating from eau de Cologne.^[15]

In the modern language the reflexive esvair-se is used of anything that fades away or comes to an end, a dream or a hope, of time that passes quickly, and of a person who faints or loses strength;^[2][16][6] esvair-se em sangue and esvair-se em suor mean to lose a great deal of blood or sweat.^[2][16][6]

Timeline

• 14th century – esuaecer, the older verb esvaecer.^[9]
• 16th century – first record of esvair.^[2][11]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as “to evaporate”.^[12]
• 1734 – Feijó recommends evanescer instead.^[13]
• 1789 – Morais records esvair-se o sangue and esvair-se em sangue.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make something evaporate or dissipate: O vento da tarde esvaiu o fumo.^[2][7]
2. (reflexive) To evaporate; to fade away, vanish or come to an end.^[2][17]
3. (reflexive) To faint; to lose one's strength or senses.^[2][1]
4. (reflexive) Of time, to pass quickly.^[16][17]
5. (reflexive) To lose a liquid in great quantity: esvair-se em sangue.^[5][15]

Word family

• esvaído

Related words

• esvaecer
• vão
• evanescente
• Latin vānus

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. esvair
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. esvair
4. ^ 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. esvair
5. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4028
6. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. esvair
7. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. esvair
8. ^ 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. s.v. esvair
9. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. esvaecer
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. vānus
11. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. vão
12. ^ 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. esvair
13. ^ 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. esvair
14. ^ 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, 74
15. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 466
16. ^ 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. esvair
17. ^ 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. esvair