lei

Forms

lei f (plural leis)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote lee, lei and ley, and in the 14th and 15th centuries also lley; the plural was leis, lex or leix.^[2][3] Feijó (1734) and Bluteau's book of synonyms still give the spellings lei and ley side by side.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lēx (“law”), written Old Galician-Portuguese lee and Old Galician-Portuguese lei in the oldest texts.^[2][1][6][7] The two-syllable form, with the Latin /g/ lost between vowels, stood between the Latin word and the later monosyllable, as in Spanish.^[1][8] Houaiss notes that the Latin word, a written and promulgated obligation, was opposed to mōs and cōnsuētūdō, custom or unwritten law.^[2]

The same Latin word is Galician lei, Spanish ley, Catalan llei, Occitan lei, French loi, Italian legge and Romanian lege.^[9][1]

The Latin word continues Proto-Italic *lēg-.^[10] It is usually derived from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather”), the root of legō, but de Vaan marks this with a query.^[10][1] Palmer proposed instead *legʰ- (“to lie”), which would make the word parallel to the English law;^[11] Fortson accepts that view.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date, 1034 (leys), is a Latin charter, and a Latin text of 1105 has lee et foro de rex de legione “the law and fuero of the king of León”.^[2][3] In Galician-Portuguese the word appears in the 13th century, and its first sense there is “religion”: the Cantigas de Santa Maria speak of a servant of God e de sa ley amador “and a lover of his law”, of a lee dos crischãos “the religion of the Christians”, and of the Virgin through whom God nos deu nova lee “gave us a new law”.^[12] Pero da Ponte names todas tres las leis, the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The medieval texts also use the word for the Old Testament (a Vella Lei), for a monastic rule, and for religious belief in general.^[12][3] The Portuguese translation of the Fuero Real of Alfonso X already has it in the legal sense.^[7] Bluteau's synonyms (decree, statute, ordinance, rule) show the legal sense dominant in the 18th century.^[5]

From the legal sense came the scientific one, a constant relation between phenomena (as leis da física), and the rules of an art.^[2][13] In coinage lei is the legal proportion of precious metal in an alloy, hence ouro de lei and, by extension, madeira de lei “hardwood of the best quality”.^[2][14][13] In Portugal and Galicia the word also meant “affection, esteem”.^[2][15][16]

Timeline

• 1034 – leys in a Latin charter.^[2]
• 1105 – a Latin text has lee et foro.^[3]
• 13th century – ley and lee “religion” in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[12]
• 14th century – the spellings lex and lley.^[2]
• 15th century – the plural leix.^[2][3]
• c. 1510 – lei in the Vida de Santo Agostinho (witness 1480–1510).^[17]
• 1697 – Pereira translates Lei as lex, praescriptum, statutum and edictum.^[18]
• 1734 – Feijó gives the spellings Lei, ou Ley.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A law: a rule laid down by the sovereign authority of a state, which all must obey: A nova lei entra em vigor amanhã.^[2][19][20]
2. The body of such rules; the law: Ninguém está acima da lei.^[2][20]
3. A rule imposed by custom, conscience or circumstances.^[2][19]
4. Power, dominion: a lei do mais forte “the law of the strongest”.^[2][19]
5. A norm or principle of an art or a discipline: as leis da harmonia.^[2][19]
6. (science) A constant relation between phenomena: a lei da gravidade.^[2][14][13]
7. (religion) A religious law; a religion: a lei de Moisés.^[2][14][13]
8. The legal proportion of precious metal in an alloy for coinage: ouro de lei.^[2][14]
9. Good quality, genuineness: madeira de lei.^[2][13]
10. (Portugal, regional) Affection, esteem.^[2][15]

Word family

• decreto-lei

Related words

• leal
• legal
• legítimo
• legislar
• Latin lēx
• Galician lei
• Spanish ley

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include lei seca “prohibition”, lei da rolha “gag law” and de boa lei “genuine”.^[14] In Rio Grande do Sul, lei do embudo (“funnel law”) is a law applied to favour the powerful, a phrase shared with the Spanish of the Plate.^[21]

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 g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. lei
3. ^ a b c d e 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. lee
4. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro)
5. ^ 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. lei
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. lei
7. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. s.v. lei
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 639
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. lex
12. ^ a b c d 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. lei
13. ^ a b c d e 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. lei
14. ^ a b c d e Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. lei
15. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. lei
16. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. lei
17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. lei
18. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro)
19. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lei
20. ^ 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. lei
21. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. lei