justo

Forms

justo (feminine justa, masculine plural justos, feminine plural justas, comparable, comparative mais justo, superlative o mais justo or justíssimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin iūstus (“lawful, just”), written Old Galician-Portuguese justo in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1] Corominas sees no conclusive reason to treat the word as learned in any Romance language, except perhaps French.^[5]

The same Latin word is Galician xusto, Spanish justo, Catalan just, French juste and Italian giusto.^[6][1]

The Latin adjective is formed on iūs (“law, right”); an inscription has the old ablative iouestod.^[7] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *jowesto- (“just”) and derives that noun from an s-stem of Proto-Indo-European *h₂oi-u (“vital force, eternity”);^[8][1] Wiktionary gives the root as *h₂yew-.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latin charters have Justus as a name in 933 and per precio iusto “at a fair price” in 1080.^[9] In Galician-Portuguese it appears in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, which call Christ justo juyz “just judge”, and charters of 1336 and 1341 sell por justo preço “for a fair price”.^[9] Houaiss and Cunha date it to the 13th century.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun o justo “the righteous man” is in use from the 14th century: the Miragres de Santiago explain the name Justo as ome dereito “upright man”, and the Crónica Troiana says sol arder o justo porlo pecador “the just man often burns for the sinner”.^[9] Bluteau (1712) gives “possessing justice”, “in accordance with justice” and “reasonable”.^[10] Cunha's entry gives the senses “equitable”, “tight” and “virtuous man”.^[3]

Justo was also a gold coin of King João II, named after its legend Justus ut palma florebit, minted from 1489.^[11] Morais (1813) and Vieira give its value as 600 réis, the DLP as 380 reais brancos.^[12][13][14] Kabuverdianu and Tetum have justu from Portuguese, and Indonesian justru.^[1]

Timeline

• 933 – Justus as a personal name in a Latin charter.^[9]
• 1080 – per precio iusto in a Latin charter.^[9]
• 13th century – justo juyz in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[9][2]
• 1336 – por justo preço in a charter.^[9]
• 14th century – the noun justo in the Crónica Troiana and the Miragres de Santiago.^[9]
• c. 1430 – the Horto do Esposo (copied 1390–1437) uses justo.^[15]
• 1489 – João II has the gold coin justo minted.^[11]
• 1712 – Bluteau's article.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. In accordance with justice, fairness and reason: uma decisão justa.^[2][16][1]
2. Fair, impartial, upright: of a person who judges and acts with equity.^[2][16]
3. Due, deserved: um castigo justo.^[2][14]
4. Well founded, legitimate.^[2][16]
5. Exact, precise: a palavra justa.^[2][16]
6. Fitting, appropriate; conforming to a norm or model.^[2][17]
7. tight, close-fitting: umas calças justas.^[2][16][1]
8. Agreed upon, settled.^[2][17]
9. (music) Of the fourth, fifth and octave: perfect.^[2][16]

Noun

1. (theology) A righteous person, one in a state of grace.^[2][14][1]
2. A person who lives by the rules of justice and morals.^[2][16]

Adverb

1. Exactly, precisely; just at that moment.^[2][16]
2. In the right amount, just enough.^[2]

Word family

• ajustar
• ajuste
• justeza
• desajustado

Related words

• justiça
• injusto
• justificar
• Latin iūs
• Galician xusto
• Spanish justo

Usage notes

Pagar o justo pelo pecador “the just man pays for the sinner” is said when the innocent are punished and the guilty go free, or when a whole group is punished for what some did.^[2][14] Dormir o sono dos justos is “to sleep soundly”.^[2][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. justo
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. justo
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. justo
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 542
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4635
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. justo
10. ^ 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. justo
11. ^ a b 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, 65
12. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 196
13. ^ 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, 1231
14. ^ a b c d e 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. justo
15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. justo
16. ^ a b c d e f g h Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. justo
17. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5514