leve

Forms

leve m or f (plural leves, comparable, comparative mais leve, superlative o mais leve or levíssimo, diminutive levinho)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin levis (“light in weight”), written Old Galician-Portuguese leve in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1] The REW, however, puts the Portuguese and Spanish forms in brackets among the outcomes of the Latin word, and García de Diego gives Old Galician-Portuguese leo as the old popular one.^[5][6] The Spanish leve is a learned word, first recorded with Santillana, beside the inherited Old Spanish lieve.^[5][6][7] Wiktionary calls the word a doublet of léu, which Houaiss takes from Old Occitan leu.^[1][8]

The same Latin word is Italian lieve, Catalan lleu, Occitan lèu and Old French lief.^[5][1] Its place is taken by French léger, from a derivative of it.^[9]

The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *leɣʷis and *h₁lengʷʰ- (“light”).^[1] De Vaan reconstructs a u-stem adjective that Latin remade as an i-stem, and the OLD compares ἐλαχύς (elakhús, “small”) and light.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the adjective to the 13th century.^[2][3] In the Cantigas de Santa Maria a heavy thing tornou tam leve come se de pallas fosse “became as light as if it were made of straw”, and another cantiga says that something was so light that an ant could carry it.^[12][13] In a satirical cantiga of Pedr' Amigo de Sevilha the word already means “light-headed, foolish”.^[12][14]

Semantic evolution

Cunha's gloss joins “of little weight” to “nimble, easy, thin, delicate”.^[3] Morais in 1813 has the figurative “agile” (ships light at the oar), light movement, thoughtlessness and a merry, joking temper.^[15] Vieira quotes the epitaph formula que a terra lhe seja leve “may the earth lie light on him”.^[16]

Modern Portuguese uses the adjective for weight, pressure, density and thickness, and for what is slight, faint, easy, simple, pleasant, relieved, frugal or easy to digest, as well as for light artillery and drinks low in alcohol.^[2] As a plural noun, leves are the lungs of birds or of the pig, a sense the REW already records.^[2][17][5] In boxing leve, short for peso leve, is the lightweight class and a boxer in it.^[2] In the Portuguese dialects the word can describe cold, dry weather.^[18]

Timeline

• 1200s – first records.^[2][3]
• 1200s, second half – tornou tam leve in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[12]
• 1400s – leveza, the noun of quality.^[3]
• 1504 – leves in a private letter.^[19]
• 1755 – Folqman gives Latin levis and the phrase crer de leve “to believe rashly”.^[20]
• 1813 – Morais lists the figurative senses “agile” and “thoughtless”.^[15]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira cites the epitaph que a terra lhe seja leve.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of little weight; not heavy: uma mala leve.^[2][21][1]
2. Pressing lightly; gentle: um toque leve no ombro.^[2][1]
3. Moving easily; agile, nimble.^[2][21]
4. Of low density or thickness; thin (of a fabric or a layer).^[2][22]
5. Not serious; slight, superficial: um ferimento leve.^[2][23]
6. Barely perceptible; faint, soft.^[2][23]
7. Easy to bear or to understand; simple, pleasant (of work, a novel, music).^[2]
8. Easy to digest; frugal (of a meal); low in alcohol (of a drink).^[2][21]
9. Relieved, unburdened: sentir-se mais leve.^[2][21]
10. Easily broken (of sleep).^[2][23]
11. (military) Of lower weight or class than others of its kind: artilharia leve.^[2]

Noun

1. (boxing) The lightweight class; a boxer in it.^[2]
2. (in the plural) The lungs of birds or of the pig.^[2][17]

Adverb

1. Lightly, without force; usually in de leve or ao de leve: tocar de leve no braço.^[2][21]

Word family

• leveza
• levemente

Related words

• levantar
• levar
• leviano
• levidade
• ligeiro
• léu
• Latin levis
• Spanish leve

Usage notes

The DLP also has a masculine noun leve for the currency of Bulgaria.^[22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. leve
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. leve
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. leve
5. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5004
6. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. levis
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 636
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. léu
9. ^ 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
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ 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. leve
13. ^ 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. leve
14. ^ 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. leve
15. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 219
16. ^ a b 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, 1303
17. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5661
18. ^ 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. leve
19. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. leve
20. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. leve
21. ^ a b c d e Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. leve
22. ^ 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. leve
23. ^ a b c 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. leve