gritar

Forms

gritar (first-person singular present grito, first-person singular preterite gritei, past participle gritado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *crītō (“to cry out”), a reduced form of Latin quirītō (“to cry out for help, raise a public outcry”).^[2][3][4][1] The classical verb was explained already in antiquity as “to call on the Quirītēs”, the Roman citizens, for help, and de Vaan accepts this view.^[3][5][1] Houaiss calls it onomatopoeic in origin.^[2]

The same verb is Spanish gritar, Galician gritar, Catalan cridar, French crier and Italian gridare.^[6][1] Corominas finds its origin uncertain but most probably the Latin verb, which in Vulgar Latin must already have been shortened; he notes that Spanish and Portuguese irregularly keep the /t/ between vowels, perhaps because the word is expressive.^[6] Nascentes reviews the older explanations: forms with a syncope in the first syllable gave cridar, while others started from a form syncopated after the first syllable and assumed metathesis, and Cornu stressed the unusual change of the first consonant.^[7] The likeness of Proto-West Germanic *krītan has led some to propose a borrowing in one direction or the other, but Coromines and von Wartburg consider both families onomatopoeic.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the verb to 1507, and Cunha to the 16th century, with the sense “to cry for help, to utter loud, inarticulate sounds”.^[2][3] The noun grito is older: Cunha records it from the 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 renders the verb with Latin clamo and vocifero, and Bluteau in 1712 lists phrases such as gritar por alguem “to shout for someone far away” and gritar contra alguem “to shout abuse at someone”;^[8][9] Bluteau derived the word from Italian cridare.^[8][9] Morais in 1813 adds “to demand justice against someone, accusing him of a crime” and “to reprove loudly”.^[10] The figurative use of things that “cry out” for something, an injustice that demands redress, and the sense “to protest, complain” are recorded in the modern dictionaries.^[2][11] In horse racing it also means to give the starting call to the riders, and in Rio Grande do Sul gritar buraco is to challenge another competitor.^[12][13] Macanese has gritâ from it.^[1]

Timeline

• 1300s – first record of the noun grito.^[3]
• 1507 – first record of the verb.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso's Portuguese–Latin dictionary lists gritar.^[8]
• 1572 – first record of the noun grita.^[3]
• 1600s – first record of gritaria.^[3]
• 1712 – Bluteau lists gritar with its phrases.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais records gritador and the sense “to demand justice”.^[3][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To shout or scream, to give cries: As crianças gritavam no recreio.^[2][11][1]
2. (intransitive) To cry out for help in distress.^[2][11]
3. (intransitive) To speak very loudly;^[2][14] (transitive) to say something in a loud voice: Gritou o nome do irmão da janela.^[2][14]
4. (transitive, figurative) To clamour for, to demand urgently: um crime que grita castigo.^[2][11]
5. (intransitive) To complain loudly, to protest.^[2][15]
6. (with com or contra) To scold, to rail against someone or something.^[2][16]

Word family

• grita
• gritador
• gritante
• gritaria
• grito

Related words

• Latin quirītō
• Spanish gritar

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. gritar
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. gritar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. gritar
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. quirito
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. gritar
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 250
8. ^ a b c Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. gritar
9. ^ 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. gritar
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 101
11. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. gritar
12. ^ 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. gritar
13. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. gritar
14. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. gritar
15. ^ 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. gritar
16. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4792