lânguido

Forms

lânguido (feminine lânguida, masculine plural lânguidos, feminine plural lânguidas)^[1] Aurélio allows the ⟨u⟩ to be silent or pronounced (gui or güi).^[2] Bluteau and Morais write it without the accent, languido.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin languidus (“faint, weak, sluggish”), a learned word.^[5][6][1][7] The Latin adjective is formed on langueō (“to be faint or sluggish”) with the suffix -idus.^[8][1] The same Latin word survives in Romanian lânced.^[1]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *(s)lā̆ng-u- for the verb, from Proto-Indo-European *sl-n-ǵ-u- “weak, faint”, with a question mark, and compares Ancient Greek λαγαρός (lagarós, “slack, thin”).^[9] Wiktionary relates it to the English word slack.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to before 1664, from the epic Malaca Conquistada.^[5] Bluteau quotes its line Languida & triste pende murcha rosa “languid and sad the withered rose hangs down”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) defines it as “faint, without strength”, and also quotes palavras languidas, & molles “languid and soft words” from a treatise on spelling.^[3] Morais in 1813 adds the use for a flower that is wilting.^[4] The noun languidez was formed on it by about 1805.^[10]

Besides weakness and sickliness, the word took on gentle and sensual senses: something soft and sweet, a languid breeze, and voluptuous looks.^[5][2]

Timeline

• before 1664 – first record, in the Malaca Conquistada.^[5]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines languido as “faint, without strength”.^[3]
• c. 1805 – first record of languidez.^[10]
• 1813 – Morais records its use for a wilting flower.^[4]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives it from Latin languidus.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. languid: weak and listless, without strength or energy; abatido: estava lânguido depois da febre.^[5][2][7]
2. Sickly, morbid; mórbido.^[5][2]
3. Soft and gentle; evoking tenderness: uma tarde lânguida de verão.^[5][12]
4. Voluptuous, sensual; voluptuoso: um olhar lânguido.^[5][2][13]

Word family

• languidez

Related words

• languir
• langor
• langue
• Latin languidus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lânguido
3. ^ a b c d Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lânguido
4. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 204
5. ^ 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. lânguido
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. lânguido
7. ^ a b 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. lânguido
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. languidus
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. languidez
11. ^ 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, 1260
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. lânguido
13. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5575