frase

Forms

frase f (plural frases)^[1] Houaiss records phrases and phrasis about 1543 and frasis in 1573.^[2] The usual spelling until the 20th-century reforms was phrase: Bluteau (1712–1728) heads the word so and gives frase, phrasi and frasi as variants, and Vieira (1871–1874) still refers frase to phrase.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin phrasis (“diction, style”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “way of speaking, expression”).^[2][5][6][1] Nascentes and Aurélio call it a learned word.^[6][7]

The same Latin word is French phrase, borrowed in 1546, Spanish frase and Italian frase.^[8][1] In Spanish the word is recorded as a masculine in 1532 and in the feminine only in 1604.^[9]

The Greek noun is derived from the verb φράζω (phrázō, “to point out, to make understood”), perhaps from an older form with the suffix *-tis.^[2][1] The French historical dictionary notes that the verb is of unknown origin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, of about 1543, has the plural phrases and the Latin form phrasis.^[2][5] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines phrase as a construction of words that together express what one means to say, and distinguishes oratorical and poetic phrases.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Feijó (1734) still describes the word as a particular way of speaking.^[10] The grammatical sense, a group of words with a complete meaning, became the main one in the modern dictionaries.^[2] Aurélio marks the older sense “expression, locution” as obsolete in linguistics.^[2][7] The musical sense, a passage closed by a cadence, is recorded in the original Caldas Aulete.^[11] Derivatives followed from the 18th century: frasear and fraseado, and fraseologia in 1813.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1543 – first record, as phrases and phrasis.^[2]
• 1573 – the form frasis.^[2]
• 1712 – Bluteau heads the word phrase.^[3]
• 1734 – Feijó's Orthographia spells it Phráse.^[10]
• 18th century – first records of frasear and fraseado.^[5]
• 1813 – first record of fraseologia.^[5]
• 1871 – Vieira still refers frase to phrase.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (grammar) A sentence: a group of one or more words that has a complete meaning, with or without a verb.^[2][7][1]
2. An expression or locution; a short saying: frase feita, a set phrase.^[7][12][1]
3. (grammar, Portugal) A clause.^[1]
4. (music) A phrase, a complete musical idea closed by a cadência.^[2][11]

Word family

• frasal
• frasear
• fraseado

Related words

• fraseologia
• paráfrase
• Latin phrasis
• Spanish frase

Usage notes

Fazer frases means to speak or write in a showy style with little content.^[12][13]

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 i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. frase
3. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. phrase
4. ^ 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, 765
5. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. frase
6. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. frase
7. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. frase
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. phrase
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 949
10. ^ 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. phrase
11. ^ a b 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. frase
12. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. frase
13. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda (1975), Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, p. 677