honesto

Forms

honesto (feminine honesta, masculine plural honestos, feminine plural honestas, comparable, comparative mais honesto, superlative o mais honesto or honestíssimo)^[1] Medieval texts write onesto; the spelling with h- appears in the 14th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin honestus (“honoured, respected; honourable, virtuous”), written Old Galician-Portuguese onesto in the 13th century.^[2][3][1] Nascentes says it came in by the learned route.^[4] The same Latin word gave Galician honesto and Spanish honesto.^[5][6]

The Latin adjective is formed from honōs, the older form of honor (“honour, esteem”), with an adjective suffix.^[7][1] Cunha notes the change of vowel between the Latin noun and the adjective.^[3] The origin of the Latin noun is unknown: no clear cognates are found.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

An early translation of the Fuero Real requires a garment that is onesta e boa e dereyta “decent, good and proper”, and a text of 1302 speaks of lugar onesto “a fitting place”.^[8] In the Galician Historia Troyana a lady is moy mãsa et moy onesta et moy vergonçosa “very gentle, very modest and very bashful”, and a speaker talks cõ moy onesta rrazõ “with very reasonable words”.^[9] The earliest sense is thus “decent, seemly, reasonable”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The Miragres de Santiago already apply the word to an upright man: the devil appears “in the form of a good and honest man”.^[9] Viterbo's Elucidário records the old sense “suitable, convenient”, as in a fitting place to build a monastery.^[10] Bluteau (1712–1728) gives first “chaste, modest”, then “just, lawful” and “sufficient, worthy”, and Folqman (1755) renders it only by Latin “chaste”.^[11][12] Morais (1789) adds “reasonable”, as in honesto preço “a fair price”, and “honourable”.^[13]

Today the main sense is “truthful and upright in one's dealings”; the sense “chaste”, said of women, is now dated.^[2][14]

Timeline

• 13th century – onesto.^[2][3]
• 1302 – en lugar onesto “in a fitting place”.^[8]
• 14th century – the spelling honesto.^[2][3] Desonesto and onestidade are recorded.^[15][16]
• c. 1430 – honesto in the Horto do Esposo (witness 1390–1437).^[17]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses it with Latin honestum and fas “what is right”.^[18]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau's first sense is “chaste, modest”.^[11]
• 1789 – Morais adds “reasonable” and “honourable”.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. honest, acting according to accepted moral rules; upright: um comerciante honesto.^[2][19][1]
2. honourable, showing dignity of character.^[2][19]
3. Serious, conscientious.^[2][20]
4. Reasonable, satisfactory, fair: um preço honesto.^[2][21]
5. (dated) chaste, modest, said of a woman.^[2][19][14]

Noun

1. An honest person.^[22][14]

Word family

• desonesto
• honestidade
• honestar

Related words

• honra
• honrar
• Latin honestus
• Galician honesto

Usage notes

Honesto is also a man's name, borne by a saint of the 3rd century.^[23]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. honesto
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. honesto
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. honesto
5. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. honesto
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 383
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. honestus
8. ^ a b 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. honesto
9. ^ a b c 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. onesto
10. ^ 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. 2, 36
11. ^ 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. honesto
12. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. honesto
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 83
14. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5011
15. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. desonesto
16. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. honestidade
17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. honesto
18. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. honesto
19. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. honesto
20. ^ 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. honesto
21. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. honesto
22. ^ 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. honesto
23. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1952), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 2: Nomes próprios, Rio de Janeiro, p. s.v. honesto