fincar

Forms

fincar (first-person singular present finco, first-person singular preterite finquei, past participle fincado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *fīgicō (“to fix”), a frequentative of fīgō (“to drive in, fix”).^[2][3][4][1] The form with /n/ is not explained by the Latin: Houaiss posits a Hispanic Vulgar Latin *fincō or *fingicō to account for it, Wiktionary and the DLE suggest the influence of fingō (“to shape”), and Corominas a northern Spanish finsar (“to set a boundary stone”).^[2][1][5][6] Nascentes took it for a nasalised form of ficar, with a change of meaning, and Figueiredo asked whether it was an alteration of fixar.^[2][7][8] The old form is Old Galician-Portuguese fincar, also written Old Galician-Portuguese finquar.^[1][2]

Wiktionary counts it a doublet of that verb, and Meyer-Lübke derives both from the same frequentative.^[1][9] The same Latin word is Old Spanish fincar, modern Spanish hincar, Italian ficcare and French ficher.^[9][10] Corominas thinks that the Latin form had already become *ficcō in imperial times.^[10]

The Latin verb goes back to *feigʷō and Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stick, set up”), which is also the source of English ditch.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date fincar to the 15th century, in the forms fincar and finquar.^[2][3] The derivative afincar, as aficar and afficar, is recorded already in the 13th century, and aficado too.^[3] Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 renders fincar with Latin figo.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) gives fincar as a synonym of fixar.^[12] Bluteau defines it as driving a pointed thing by force into another, as a stake into the ground or a nail, and has fincar o chapeo até os olhos “to pull one's hat down to one's eyes”.^[13] Morais (1813) adds fincar os dados, a trick of throwing dice so that they show the number one wants, and the pronominal fincar-se “to stand still; to insist”.^[14] Vieira records the rowing term fincar o remo.^[15]

The figurative sense “to root firmly, establish” is in the modern dictionaries.^[2][4] Brazilian Portuguese has fincar o pé “to insist, dig in one's heels” and fincar a faca “to overcharge”.^[16][17]

Timeline

• 13th century – the derivative aficar.^[3]
• 15th century – first records of fincar and finquar.^[2][3]
• 1569 – Cardoso renders fincar with Latin figo.^[11]
• 1611 – Barbosa equates fincar with fixar.^[12]
• 1734 – Feijó defines it as putting a pointed thing into the ground.^[18]
• 1813 – Morais records fincar os dados and fincar-se.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To drive in so as to make firm; to stick, plant, nail: O jardineiro fincou um pau junto à roseira.^[2][4][1]
2. (transitive) To drive deep into; to stab.^[2]
3. (transitive) To fit or place with force; to press, lean hard on.^[2][19]
4. (pronominal) To stand firm or motionless.^[2][17]
5. (figurative) To fix or establish deeply; to root.^[2][4]
6. (pronominal) To insist, persist.^[19][20]
7. (transitive) To carry out a movement with determination.^[2]

Word family

• afincar
• afincado
• afincamento

Related words

• ficar
• fixar
• Latin fīgō
• Spanish hincar

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. fincar
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. fincar
4. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. fincar
5. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. fincar
6. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. hincar
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. fincar
8. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. fincar
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3290
10. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 363
11. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. fincar
12. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. fincar
13. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. fincar
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 34
15. ^ 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, 692
16. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. fincar
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. fincar
18. ^ 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. fincar
19. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. fincar
20. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4312