fiar

fiar¹ to trust

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /fiˈa(ʁ)/, [fiˈa(h)], /ˈfja(ʁ)/^[2]
• São-Paulo: /fiˈa(ɾ)/, /ˈfja(ɾ)/^[2]
• Rio-de-Janeiro: /fiˈa(ʁ)/, [fiˈa(χ)], /ˈfja(ʁ)/^[2]
• Caipira: /fiˈa(ɻ)/, /ˈfja(ɻ)/^[2]

Forms

fiar (first-person singular present fio, first-person singular preterite fiei, past participle fiado)^[2]

Etymology

The word for “to trust” is inherited from Vulgar Latin *fīdāre (“to trust”), written Old Galician-Portuguese fiar in the oldest texts.^[1][5][2] It is a first-conjugation remodelling of the classical fīdere (“to trust, rely on”).^[1][6][2] Corominas notes that the Romance languages of the West all presuppose this form, and that a derivative of it in a Latin poem of the 5th century shows it already existed then.^[7] Machado and Lorenzo find Latin forms of the verb in Portuguese charters from 1009.^[8]

The same Latin verb is Galician fiar, Spanish fiar, Catalan fiar, French fier and Italian fidare.^[9][2][10] The Latin verb comes from *feiðō and *bʰéydʰeti (“to trust”), from the root *bʰeydʰ-; it is akin to fidēs (“faith, trust”) and to foedus (“treaty”).^[2][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latin charters written in Portugal have the verb from the 11th century: fidiamus in 1009, and in 1101 et istos solidus de fiaturia que fiauit auo suo “and these shillings of surety which he pledged to his grandfather”, already in the legal sense “to stand surety”.^[8] In Galician-Portuguese it appears in the 13th century in the sense “to trust”: the Cantigas de Santa Maria have muito fiava en Santa Maria “he trusted much in Holy Mary” and quen por ela fia “whoever trusts in her”, and the cantigas d'amigo use fiar per or fiar em “to put one's trust in”.^[8][12]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval language the verb was construed with a, de, en, per and por, and was often reflexive: Estêvão da Guarda writes fio per Deus que privado seredes “I trust in God that you will be a favourite”.^[13][8] The Crónica Geral uses it again and again for trust in God.^[8] A notarial book of Rianjo has the legal sense “to stand surety for someone” (Fiou Diego dos Santos a Ferrnã Gomes).^[8] Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 glosses fiar as “to stand guarantor for another”, the sense of fiador and fiança.^[14] Folqman (1755) has both fiar a alguem alguma cousa “to entrust something to someone” and fiar-se de alguem “to rely on someone”.^[15]

Figueiredo records the commercial sense “to sell on credit” in 1899.^[16] Houaiss marks the verb as little used, and Wiktionary labels the sense “to trust” as Portuguese.^[1][2]

Timeline

• 1009 – a Latin charter has the form fidiamus.^[8]
• 1101 – fiauit “pledged” in a Latin document.^[8]
• 13th century – fiar “to trust” in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, the cantigas d'amigo and the Cancioneiro da Ajuda.^[8][5]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses fiar “to stand surety for another”.^[14]
• 1755 – Folqman lists fiar a alguem alguma cousa and fiar-se de alguem.^[15]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the sense “to sell on credit”.^[16]

Meanings

Verb

1. To stand surety for; to vouch for, guarantee (someone).^[1][17]
2. To trust, have faith; to believe (that something will be so); usually with em and often reflexive: Não me fio nas promessas dele.^[1][17][2]
3. To entrust (something to someone): fiou as chaves da casa ao vizinho.^[1][17][18]
4. To sell on credit: Aquela mercearia não fia a ninguém.^[1][17][19]
5. To leave to chance or to the will of another: fiou a sorte da viagem ao tempo.^[1][17]

Word family

• fiador
• fiado
• desafiar

fiar² to spin

Etymology tree of fiar²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin fīlum

French fil

Italian filo

Portuguese fio

Romanian fir

Spanish filo

Spanish hilo

Latin fīlō

French filer

Italian filare

Portuguese fiar

Spanish hilar

From the same root · fiar²

French filet ← fīlum

Latin fīlāmentum ← fīlum

Romanian înfira ← fīlum

French défiler ← fil

French enfiler ← fil

Italian fila ← filo

Portuguese enfiar ← fio

French file ← filer

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /fiˈa(ʁ)/, [fiˈa(h)], /ˈfja(ʁ)/^[2]
• São-Paulo: /fiˈa(ɾ)/, /ˈfja(ɾ)/^[2]
• Rio-de-Janeiro: /fiˈa(ʁ)/, [fiˈa(χ)], /ˈfja(ʁ)/^[2]
• Caipira: /fiˈa(ɻ)/, /ˈfja(ɻ)/^[2]

Forms

fiar (first-person singular present fio, first-person singular preterite fiei, past participle fiado)^[2]

Etymology

The word for “to spin” is inherited from Late Latin fīlō (“to spin”), written Old Galician-Portuguese fiar in the oldest texts.^{[1][2][17][20]} The Latin verb is formed on fīlum (“thread”) and is recorded from the 4th century;^[2] Wiktionary notes that the Portuguese verb could equally be analysed as from Portuguese fio + -ar.^[2] Figueiredo already called the Latin verb rare.^[16]

The same Latin verb is Spanish hilar, French filer and Italian filare.^[21][22][2] The noun goes back to *fī(s)lo- and *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo- (“sinew, sinew thread”), and is related to Lithuanian gysla (“vein, sinew”).^[11][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the verb to the 13th century, from Cunha's medieval index.^[1] The Cantigas de Santa Maria have fiava a lãa “she was spinning the wool” and a seda que ouviste fiada “the silk you had spun”, and a cantiga d'escarnho praises a woman who sabe ben fiar e ben tecer “knows well how to spin and to weave”.^[8][12] Lorenzo found it in the Galician-Portuguese Fuero Real (ou subre fiar ou texer), antedating the 1813 record given by Machado.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The dictionaries from Cardoso's to Pereira's give only the textile sense, translating it with Latin neo “to spin”.^[23][24] Vieira (1871–1874) defines it as reducing fibres to thread by twisting them.^[25] Later senses extend the image: drawing metal through a draw-plate into wire, sawing a board lengthwise, and, figuratively, spinning a plot.^[1][26][17] The DLP adds the silk or web that spiders and caterpillars spin.^[20]

Timeline

• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria have fiava a lãa.^[8][1]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary glosses fiar with Latin neo.^[23]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses it neo and fila trahere.^[24]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira defines it as twisting fibres into thread.^[25]

Meanings

Verb

1. To spin; to twist (cotton, wool, flax and other fibres) into thread: A avó passava as tardes a fiar linho.^[1][17][19]
2. To weave or make (cloth) from threads; to plait threads.^[1]
3. To draw (metal) through a draw-plate, making wire.^[1][17][18]
4. (figurative) To plot, hatch (an intrigue): fiar intrigas.^[1][17][18]
5. (carpentry) To saw (boards, rafters) lengthwise down the middle.^[1][19][20]
6. Of spiders and silkworms, to spin a web or cocoon.^[20]

Word family

• fiação
• fiado