falsar

Forms

falsar (first-person singular present falso, first-person singular preterite falsei, past participle falsado)^[1]

Etymology

Houaiss and the DLP see it as a verb formed in the language, from Portuguese falso + -ar.^[2][3] Aurélio, Vieira and Figueiredo derive it instead from Late Latin falsō (“to falsify”), and Nascentes takes it for a learned word from the Latin verb.^[4][5][6][7] Wiktionary leaves both explanations open, and so does the glossary of the Crónica Geral.^[1][8] Meyer-Lübke thought the Spanish and Portuguese verb a loan from Occitan and Catalan falsar.^[9] The old form is Old Galician-Portuguese falsar, also written Old Galician-Portuguese ffalssar.^[1][2]

The Latin verb is formed on falsus (“false”), the past participle of fallō (“to deceive”).^[1] The Latin verb also gave Spanish falsar, Catalan falsar, French fausser and Italian falsare.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb first appears inside Latin: charters of 1172 and 1174 fine anyone who falsifies measures (qui illas falsauerit).^[8] The first vernacular record is in the Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century, where it means “to pierce, break”: ca lle falssou os costados a saeta que de forte baesta fora tirada “for the arrow shot from a strong crossbow pierced his sides”.^[8][1] Viterbo quotes the foral of Tomar of 1174 in a vernacular version of the early 14th century: Se alguém medidas, ou covedos falsar, peyte V. ss. “if anyone falsifies measures or cubits, let him pay five solidi”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The Crónica Geral uses the verb for breaking through shields and armour (falsou o escudo) and for breaking an agreement (falsarõ a postura).^[8] The sense “to lie, break one's promise” is recorded in the 16th century, and “to frustrate” in a moral sense also appears.^[11] Bluteau has falsar sinal, ou sello del-Rey “to forge the King's seal”, a crime that the Ordinances punished with death, a term of the game of péla for a false bounce, and falsar o pé “to set one's foot wrong”.^[12] Viterbo noted in 1798 that in his day falsar meant “to strike wrongly, miss”.^[11] The modern dictionaries add “to give way, begin to crack” of a wall, and “to sing or play out of tune”.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1172 – a Latin charter has falsadas of falsified measures.^[8]
• 13th century – falssou “pierced” in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[8][2]
• 14th century – the spelling ffalssar.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders falsar with Latin adultero.^[13]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses it “to deceive”.^[14]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records the sense in the game of péla.^[12]
• 1734 – Feijó defines it as dar em falso “to strike wrongly”.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To cheat someone in weight or measure.^[2][4][1]
2. (transitive) To weigh or measure with false means; to falsify, adulterate.^[2][4][16]
3. (transitive) To break by force or through a weak point; to pierce.^[2][4]
4. (transitive) To make void; to frustrate, thwart.^[2][4]
5. (intransitive) To tell falsehoods; to break one's promises; to lie.^[2][16][1]
6. (intransitive) To strike wrongly; to fail.^[2][4]
7. (intransitive) Of a wall, to begin to crack or give way.^[2][17]
8. (intransitive, music) To sing or play out of tune.^[2][4]

Related words

• falso
• falsear
• falsificar
• Latin falsus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. falsar
3. ^ 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. falsar
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. falsar
5. ^ 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, 573
6. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. falsar
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. falsar
8. ^ a b c d e f 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. falsar
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3170
10. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. falsare
11. ^ a b c 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, 426
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. falsar
13. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. falsar
14. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. falsar
15. ^ 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. falsar
16. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4163
17. ^ 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. falsar