levar

Forms

levar (first-person singular present levo, first-person singular preterite levei, past participle levado)^[1] Houaiss's historical forms include levar, leuan and levaron in the 13th century and levavom and levô in the 14th.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin levō (“to lift; to lighten, relieve”), Old Galician-Portuguese levar in the cantigas.^[2][3][1] The Latin verb is formed from the adjective levis (“light in weight”).^[2][1] It first meant “to make light”, hence “to relieve”, and the sense “to lift” developed under the Empire.^[4] Nascentes explains the step to “carry”: to take a thing away one must often lift it first.^[5] In Portuguese and Spanish the verb took over the senses of Latin ferō (“to carry”) and portō (“to carry”).^[5][6]

The same Latin word is Galician levar, Spanish llevar, Catalan llevar, French lever (“to raise”), Italian levare (“to lift, take away”) and Romanian lua (“to take”).^[7][1] In the Middle Ages the Spanish verb was still Old Spanish levar, with the present lieva; when the present took ⟨ll⟩, the ⟨ll⟩ spread to the whole verb.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's earliest form is leuare, from a document of 1022–1065 that he cites from Machado.^[2] In the cantigas d'amigo the verb often has its old sense “to raise”, and reflexively “to get up”: Levou-s' aa alva, levou-s' a velida “She rose at dawn, the lovely girl rose” (Pero Meogo); Levad', amigo, que dormides as manhanas frias “Get up, friend, you who sleep in the cold mornings” (Nuno Fernandes Torneol).^[9] The same poems use it for “to carry, take” and, with coita, for “to suffer the pain of love”.^[10][9]

Semantic evolution

Medieval texts give the verb the senses “to carry”, “to take away”, “to take for oneself”, “to steal”, “to receive” and “to endure”; a cantiga d'escarnho of Afonso X has the saying quen leva o baio, non leixa a sela “whoever takes the bay horse does not leave the saddle”.^[10][11] The sense “to raise” has faded, but nautical levar still means to haul in the sails or the awning, and the reflexive levar-se is to weigh anchor.^[2][12]

Bluteau in 1712 defined it as “to take from one place to put in another”, with Latin ferre, gestare and portare.^[13] Morais in 1789 added “to carry off” (said of a disease that takes a life) and “to win” (levar a palma, the prize).^[14] Modern senses include “to take (time)”, “to contain” (of an ingredient), “to wear”, “to lead to” (of a road) and, informally, “to get a beating”.^[2][12][1] Brazilian slang has levar na mão grande “to steal”.^[15]

Timeline

• 1022–1065 – leuare in a document cited by Houaiss from Machado.^[2]
• 13th century – levar in the cantigas, in the senses “to raise”, “to get up” and “to carry”, the century to which Cunha dates the first record.^[10][3]
• 14th century – the derivative enlevar.^[3]
• 1697 – Pereira renders it by Latin fero, gero and porto.^[16]
• 1712 – Bluteau: to take from one place to another.^[13]
• 1755 – Folqman lists levar alguem pela mão “to lead someone by the hand”.^[17]
• 1789 – Morais adds “to carry off” and “to win”.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take, carry (something or someone) to a place: Levo os livros para a escola.^[2][15][1]
2. To go with (someone) somewhere; to lead, accompany: Levou a filha ao médico.^[2][18][1]
3. To have with one, carry on one's person: Leva sempre a carteira no bolso.^[2][12][1]
4. To wear (clothes or an ornament).^[2][12]
5. To take away, remove;^[1] (of wind or water) to sweep away.^[2][1]
6. To steal;^[12][1] (euphemistic) to take (a life).^[12][1]
7. (of a road) To lead to: Esta rua leva ao porto.^[2][1]
8. To lead, induce (someone to something).^[18][1]
9. To take, need (a length of time): A viagem leva três horas.^[1]
10. To contain, have as an ingredient; to hold: Esta receita leva ovos.^[12][1]
11. To spend, live (one's life or time).^[18]
12. To ask or receive as payment.^[12][18]
13. (informal, intransitive) To get a beating, get it.^[12][1]
14. levar-se: to let oneself be carried away (by an emotion).^[1][12]
15. levar a cabo: to carry out, complete.^[12]

Word family

• enlevar
• enlevo
• levadiço
• levadio
• levado
• levar vantagem

Related words

• levantar
• leve
• levada
• Latin levō
• Spanish llevar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. levar
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. levar
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. lever
5. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. levar
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 297
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5000
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 731
9. ^ a b Lopes, Graça Videira; Ferreira, Manuel Pedro et al. (2011–), Cantigas Medievais Galego-Portuguesas [online database], Lisboa: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, FCSH/NOVA, https://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt, p. s.v. levar
10. ^ 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. levar
11. ^ 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. levar
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. levar
13. ^ 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. levar
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 18
15. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. levar
16. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. levar
17. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. levar
18. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5661