ira

Forms

ira f (plural iras)^[1] The 13th century also writes hira.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin īra (“anger, rage”), written Old Galician-Portuguese ira in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1]

The same Latin word is Spanish ira, Catalan ira, French ire and Italian ira.^[4][5] Corominas calls the Spanish word popular through the whole Middle Ages.^[6]

The Latin word, which Plautus still wrote with ⟨ei⟩, goes back to *eizā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eys-, and is related to Avestan aēšma (“anger”) and Ancient Greek οἶστρος (oîstros).^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The cantigas of the 13th century use ira for the anger of a lady, of a lord or of God: Martin Soarez complains non ei de Dona Elvira / seu amor e ei sa ira “I don't have Dona Elvira's love, and I have her anger”, and a Cantiga de Santa Maria prays that God may give a wrongdoer compridamente sa yra “his wrath in full”.^[8] The cantigas d'amigo have meter-se em ira “to get angry”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed close to the Latin: a strong feeling of anger at an offence.^[2][3] Cardoso (1562) equates it with sanha, the usual medieval word for rage.^[10] Bluteau (1712–1728) describes it at length as an impetuous passion and a desire for revenge.^[11] The modern dictionaries add the expression of anger and the sense “punishment, vengeance”, especially of God.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 13th century – ira and hira in the cantigas.^[2][3][8]
• 1446 – the Visão de Túndalo is the first text in the CTA corpus with the word.^[13]
• 1549 – first record of irado “angry”.^[3]
• 1562 – Cardoso's dictionary renders ira as a sanha.^[10]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau's long article on anger as a passion.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. anger, wrath, violent indignation at an offence: Mal conseguia esconder a ira.^[2][14][1]
2. An outburst or display of that anger.^[2]
3. vengeance, punishment, especially from God: a ira divina.^[2][12]

Word family

• irar
• irado

Related words

• iracundo
• iracúndia
• irascível
• Latin īra
• Spanish ira

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ira
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. ira
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 280
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 468
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ 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. ira
9. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. ira
10. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1562), Dictionarium juventuti studiosae admodum frugiferum, Coimbra: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. ira
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. ira
12. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ira
13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. ira
14. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ira