inimigo

Forms

inimigo m (plural inimigos, feminine inimiga, feminine plural inimigas)^[1] The medieval language had many forms: ẽemigo, eemigo, emigo, enemigo, enmijgo, imigo, iimigo, ymigo and inimigo.^[2][3][4] Imigo was still usual in the 16th century: a letter of 1561 has Imigos.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin inimīcus (“unfriendly; enemy”), whose regular outcome in the oldest texts is Old Galician-Portuguese ẽemigo.^[2][1] The modern form was refashioned on the Latin word, a semi-learned form that replaced the popular ones.^[6][7][1]

The same Latin word is Spanish enemigo, Catalan enemic, French ennemi and Italian nemico.^[8][1] García de Diego gives the old Portuguese forms Old Galician-Portuguese eimigo and Old Galician-Portuguese iimigo beside the old Galician one.^[9]

The Latin word is made of in- (“not”) and amīcus (“friend”).^[4][1] The DHLF notes that it first meant a personal enemy, as opposed to hostis (“public enemy”), and that in Christian Latin it also named the Devil.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria speak of seu ẽemigo “his enemy” and of en poder do ẽemigo “in the power of the enemy”.^[2] A legal text of 1209 printed among the Portugaliae Monumenta Historica already has meu inimigo he “he is my enemy”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The medieval texts use the word for a personal or military enemy, the enemies of the faith (aos enmijgos da nossa fe, 1317) and, as in Latin, the Devil (o demo que he sempre eemigo dos homẽs “the devil, who is ever the enemy of men”).^[2] The sense “the Devil” survives in informal speech.^[4][11]

Houaiss's first date, 1188–1230, is for the feminine form nimjga.^[4] The word is both an adjective, “hostile; belonging to the opposing side” (tropas inimigas), and a noun;^[4][12] Vieira quotes Diogo do Couto's Décadas for the enemy in war (a Armada inimiga).^[4][12] A thing can also be the enemy of another: a pressa é inimiga da perfeição “haste is the enemy of perfection”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1188–1230 – nimjga, the first date Houaiss gives.^[4]
• 1209 – inimigo and enemigo in a legal text in the Portugaliae Monumenta Historica.^[10]
• 13th century – ẽemigo in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[2][3]
• 1317 – aos enmijgos da nossa fe in a document.^[2]
• 1561 – Imigos in a private letter.^[5]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses Inimigo with Latin inimicus and, for an enemy in war, hostis.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. An enemy, a person who hates another or tries to harm him.^[4][11][1]
2. The opposing side in a war; a member of an enemy force.^[4][11]
3. A political, religious or ideological adversary.^[4]
4. A person who dislikes something: inimigo de cerimónias.^[4]
5. Something harmful or opposed to something else.^[4][11]
6. (informal) The devil.^[4][11]

Adjective

1. hostile, adverse.^[4][11]
2. Belonging to the opposing side: tropas inimigas.^[4][11]

Related words

• inimizade
• amigo
• inimicíssimo
• Latin inimīcus
• Spanish enemigo

Usage notes

Inimigo jurado is a sworn enemy, and inimigo público a public enemy.^[11] In Ceará an inimigo alugado is a person killed on someone else's orders.^[4][11]

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 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. eemigo
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. inimigo
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. inimigo
5. ^ a b CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. inimigo
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. inimigo
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. 277
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. ennemi
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. inimicus
10. ^ 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. ẽemigo
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. inimigo
12. ^ 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, 1111
13. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. inimigo